# Century (cricket)
In cricket, a century is a score of 100 runs or more made by a single batter in one innings. It is the standard benchmark of batting achievement in every format of the game, from five-day Test matches to Twenty20 internationals, and centuries are counted and compared across a player's whole career.[1](https://qa.time.com/7329775/regression-test-exclusive-article/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Definition | 100 runs or more scored by one batter in a single innings; scores from 100 to 199 are centuries, and 200 or more is a double century[1](https://qa.time.com/7329775/regression-test-exclusive-article/) |
| First Test century | Charles Bannerman, 165 retired hurt for Australia against England in the inaugural Test at Melbourne, March 1877[2](https://www.cricket.com.au/players/CA%3A19579/charles-bannerman) |
| Record share of an innings | Bannerman's 165 was 67.3 per cent of Australia's 245, still the highest individual share of a completed team innings in Test cricket[2](https://www.cricket.com.au/players/CA%3A19579/charles-bannerman) |
| Most international centuries | Sachin Tendulkar, 100 (51 in Tests, 49 in ODIs), completed on 16 March 2012 against Bangladesh[3](https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/tendulkar-becomes-first-to-score-100-centuries) • [4](https://www.sportsadda.asia/cricket/features/most-hundreds-in-international-cricket/) |
| Most ODI centuries | Virat Kohli, who reached his 50th ODI hundred on 15 November 2023 and his 54th on 18 January 2026[5](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-hundreds-in-a-one-day-international-career-%28male%29) |
| Fastest noted IPL century | Vaibhav Suryavanshi's 35-ball hundred for Rajasthan Royals in April 2025, the second fastest in the tournament's 18 years[6](https://apnews.com/article/d574d22838adf4bbd18e3239406f2545) |
## Meaning and notation
A century requires a batter to bat long enough and score fast enough to pass 100 runs within one innings, so it measures both endurance and run-making. The usual scorecard notation is a three-figure score followed by an asterisk if the batter was not dismissed, as in Bannerman's 165*. A score between 50 and 99 is a half-century, the lesser milestone; a score of 200 or more in one innings is called a double century, and higher multiples follow the same pattern.[1](https://qa.time.com/7329775/regression-test-exclusive-article/)
Centuries are counted separately by the level of the match. The [International Cricket Council](https://www.edgepedia.org/international-cricket-council) recognizes three international formats, Test, One Day International, and [Twenty20 International](https://www.edgepedia.org/twenty20-international), and a hundred in each carries its own statistical column.[7](https://thecricscope.com/crictips/types-of-cricket-matches/) A century in a domestic competition such as the [Indian Premier League](https://www.edgepedia.org/indian-premier-league) sits in the T20 column of a player's record rather than among international hundreds.[7](https://thecricscope.com/crictips/types-of-cricket-matches/)
## The first Test century
The first century in [Test cricket](https://www.edgepedia.org/test-cricket) was scored in the very first Test match. Charles Bannerman, a 25-year-old Sydney professional born in Kent, opened the batting for Australia against England at the [Melbourne Cricket Ground](https://www.edgepedia.org/melbourne-cricket-ground) on 15 March 1877, faced the first ball bowled in Test cricket from Alfred Shaw, and scored the first run and the first hundred in Test history.[2](https://www.cricket.com.au/players/CA%3A19579/charles-bannerman) • [8](https://www.cricbuzz.com/profiles/5827/charles-bannerman)
**An innings that set two records.** Bannerman had made 126 by stumps on the first day and added 39 the next morning before retiring hurt with a broken finger after being struck by a delivery. His 165 accounted for 67.3 per cent of Australia's first-innings total of 245, in a match where no other Australian batter passed 20, and it remains both the highest Test score on debut by an Australian and the highest individual share of a completed team innings.[2](https://www.cricket.com.au/players/CA%3A19579/charles-bannerman) Australia won the match by 45 runs.[2](https://www.cricket.com.au/players/CA%3A19579/charles-bannerman)
## Centuries as career records
Because centuries are discrete, countable events, they anchor the most-followed batting records. [Sachin Tendulkar](https://www.edgepedia.org/sachin-tendulkar) became the first cricketer to reach 100 international centuries, completing the mark in an [Asia Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/asia-cup) one-day international against Bangladesh on 16 March 2012; the total comprised 51 Test hundreds and 49 ODI hundreds.[3](https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/tendulkar-becomes-first-to-score-100-centuries) • [4](https://www.sportsadda.asia/cricket/features/most-hundreds-in-international-cricket/) His first international hundred had come against England at Manchester in 1990.[9](https://www.bcci.tv/news/article/centuries-in-focus)
**The ODI record has changed hands.** [Virat Kohli](https://www.edgepedia.org/virat-kohli) scored his 50th One-Day International century on 15 November 2023 in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai, one more than Tendulkar managed in the format, and extended the record to 54 with a 108-ball 124 against New Zealand at Indore on 18 January 2026.[5](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-hundreds-in-a-one-day-international-career-%28male%29)
## Centuries across formats
The same milestone means different things in different formats. In Test cricket, with two innings a side over up to five days, a century is a long-form achievement of patience and technique.[10](https://www.sportscoretracker.com/cricket/formats-explained) In One Day Internationals, 50 overs a side give a batter roughly 300 legal deliveries of team resource, and in T20 internationals only 120, so a hundred in the shortest format usually demands scoring at a run a ball or faster.[10](https://www.sportscoretracker.com/cricket/formats-explained)
**Speed records belong to T20.** In April 2025 the 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, nine days after becoming the youngest player to debut in the Indian Premier League, reached a century in 35 deliveries in only his third match, the second fastest hundred in the tournament's 18 years; 94 of his 100 runs came in boundaries, from 11 sixes and seven fours.[6](https://apnews.com/article/d574d22838adf4bbd18e3239406f2545)
## References
1. [Regression – Test Exclusive Article, TIME](https://qa.time.com/7329775/regression-test-exclusive-article/)
2. [Charles Bannerman, cricket.com.au](https://www.cricket.com.au/players/CA%3A19579/charles-bannerman)
3. [Tendulkar becomes first to score 100 centuries, ICC](https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/tendulkar-becomes-first-to-score-100-centuries)
4. [Most centuries in international cricket: full top 20 list, SportsAdda](https://www.sportsadda.asia/cricket/features/most-hundreds-in-international-cricket/)
5. [Most hundreds in a One-Day International career (male), Guinness World Records](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-hundreds-in-a-one-day-international-career-%28male%29)
6. [14-year-old Suryavanshi smashes a record-breaking T20 century in cricket's Indian Premier League, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/d574d22838adf4bbd18e3239406f2545)
7. [Types Of Cricket Matches: Formats, Rules & History Explained, CricScope](https://thecricscope.com/crictips/types-of-cricket-matches/)
8. [Charles Bannerman Profile, Cricbuzz](https://www.cricbuzz.com/profiles/5827/charles-bannerman)
9. [Centuries in focus, BCCI.tv](https://www.bcci.tv/news/article/centuries-in-focus)
10. [Cricket Formats Explained: Test, ODI, T20, T10, The Hundred, SportScoreTracker](https://www.sportscoretracker.com/cricket/formats-explained)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Cricket › Cricket competitions and records › Records and substantive reference › Special feats, rarities, and milestone lists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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