Hitting the first international century is always a major feat for any cricketer, but the joy grows manifold when a cricketer gets to the magical three figures and creates a world record. Ireland’s Amy Hunter on her 16th birthday, scored her maiden ODI century on October 11 to become the youngest cricketer to score an international century. The right-handed Irish batter broke Indian ODI skipper Mithali Raj’s 22-year-old record. Mithali scored her first international century when she was 16 years and 205 days old. The legendary Indian batter’s first international century came against Ireland on June 26, 1999.
Playing in her fourth ODI, Hunter scored an unbeaten 121 at no.3. She faced 127 deliveries and scored eight boundaries in her record-breaking inning. Her century helped Ireland women post a massive total of 312/3 against Zimbabwe women. Her 121-run knock helped her team beat Zimbabwe by a big margin of 86 runs.
Hunter broke the record in both men’s and women’s cricket. This is a major achievement for Ireland cricket as there was no cricketer from the country before.
Currently, the record for youngest centurion in men’s international cricket belongs to former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi. Playing against Sri Lanka, Afridi got to his maiden ODI century when he was 16 years and 217 days old.
On the other hand, in Test cricket, Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful holds the record for youngest centurion aged at 17 years and 61 days. In the longest format of the game, India’s legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar got to his maiden century when he was 17 years and 107 days old.