100 Days to go for ICC Champions Trophy 2017

Since 1998, 40 centuries have been scored in the ICC Champions Trophy, previously known as the ICC Knock Out Trophy. The 2002 edition of tournament in Sri Lanka, which was jointly won by the host and India, had the most number of centuries, 10, with Herschelle Gibbs scored two of them. The ICC Champions Trophy 2013 in England and Wales saw the least number of 100s – 3.

While 29 players from ten countries have scored a total of 4,641 runs, Indians have scored the maximum number of 100s – 8. With 100 days to go until the first ball is bowled in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, we take a look at some of the top 100s scored in previous editions of the tournament.

· Sourav Ganguly, Gibbs and Chris Gayle have all scored three centuries – the most by any player.

· Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower and New Zealand’s Nathan Astle hold the joint record for the highest score in the tournament. Flower scored 145 off 164 deliveries against India in the 2002 edition in Colombo, while Astle made an unbeaten 145 against United States of America in 2004 at The Oval.

· Virender Sehwag scored the quickest 100, off just 77 balls, during the 2002 edition in Colombo. Sehwag also holds the record for hitting the most fours in a 100 in the tournament. He hit 21 boundaries in 126 against England in Colombo in 2002.

· Shahriar Nafees, the Bangladesh batsman, holds the record for the slowest century, off 143 balls, in 2006 in Jaipur.

· The most number of sixes (7) were hit by Shane Watson during his 136 not out against England in Pretoria in 2009.

Australia

Australian batsmen have scored three 100s throughout the history of the tournament, with Shane Watson scoring two during the 2009 edition in South Africa. His first century (136 not out from 132 balls) came against England and his second (105 not out from 129 balls) was made against New Zealand.

Ricky Ponting is the other Australian to have hit a century, also in 2009. His 111 not out from 115 balls came against England.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh has scored only one 100 in the ICC Champions Trophy – Shariar Nafees’s century against Zimbabwe in 2006.

England

England players have scored three 100s in all, with Marcus Trescothick alone accounting for two of them. His first century (119 from 102 balls) came in 2002 against Zimbabwe in Colombo and his second (104 from 124 balls) was against West Indies at The Oval in 2004.

Andrew Flintoff was the last England player to score a 100 in the tournament. He made 104 from 91 balls against Sri Lanka in Southampton in 2004.

India

Indians have scored eight 100s, the highest by any country. Sourav Ganguly holds the joint record for the most number of 100s. He scored two of them during the 2000 edition in Nairobi, against South Africa (141 not out from 142) and New Zealand (117 from 130). His third century came against England (117 not out from 109) in Sri Lanka in 2002.

Shikhar Dhawan is the last Indian to score a century. He scored two centuries in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013: one against South Africa (114 from 94) in Cardiff and the other West Indies (102 from 107) at The Oval.

Sachin Tendulkar (Dhaka, 1998), Virender Sehwag and Mohammed Kaif (both 2002) are the other Indians to score 100s in the tournament.

New Zealand

New Zealand batsmen have scored two centuries in the history of the tournament. Nathan Astle shares the record for the highest score -145 not out against USA at The Oval in 2004.

Chris Cairns is the other New Zealander to score a cenutry. His unbeaten 102 steered New Zealand to a four-wicket win over India in the 2000 ICC KnockOut final.

Pakistan

Pakistan has two centurions across all editions who have made three hundreds in all. Saeed Anwar scored twins tons during the 2000 edition in Kenya, with 105 not out from 134 against Sri Lanka and 104 from 115 against New Zealand.

The last Pakistani centurion was Shoaib Malik during the 2009 edition in South Africa, when he struck a 126-ball 128 against India.

South Africa

South Africa’s players have scored five 100s so far. Herschelle Gibbs holds the joint record for the most centuries (3) alongside Ganguly, with two of them coming in the 2002 edition - against Kenya (116 from 126) and India (116 not out from 119). His third hundred was made against West Indies (101 from 135) in 2004.

Jacques Kallis made 113 not out from 100 balls against Sri Lanka in 1998 in Bangladesh, while the last hundred from a South Africa was scored by Graeme Smith, who struck 141 from 134 against England in South Africa in 2009.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lankans have scored seven 100s, the second highest behind India. Upul Tharanga leads the way with the two centuries he scored during the 2006 edition in India. His first (105 from 129) came against Bangladesh and the second (110 from 130) against Zimbabwe.

The other Sri Lankan centurions are Avishka Gunawardene (2000), Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu (2002), and Tillakaratne Dilshan (2009), while Kumar Sangakkara was the last from his country to touch three-figures in the competition. His 134 not out off 135 came against England at The Oval during the 2013 edition.