Stats: Batsmen who have scored centuries in the IPL

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner entertained everyone with a sizzling hundred on Sunday night against Kolkata Knight Riders at Hyderabad. His 59-ball 126 flattened the table toppers and 2-time champions KKR as SRH ended up winning the game by 48 runs. On the following night, England’s star allrounder Ben Stokes took centre stage with his hundred.

The latest entrant on the list is Stokes who recorded a match-winning 103* to win a crucial game for RPS against Gujarat Lions. With his maiden Twenty20 century became the second English cricketer to score a triple-figure score in the IPL. This was the 46th hundred of the tournament and 29th by an overseas cricketer.

Warner was severe on KKR and made his intentions very clear right from the word go. It was power hitting at its best as Warner hit 8 sixes and 10 fours. The shot of the night was Warner’s switch hit to welcome Sunil Narine to the bowling crease, as the ball went sailing over the ropes. Warner reached his fifty courtesy that shot, off just 20 balls as Gambhir had no answer to the Australians onslaught.

This was Warner’s third IPL century and easily his best. He has now scored two hundreds against KKR with the first one coming in 2010 at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Overall, this was the 45th century scored in all 10 seasons of the IPL.

Stokes walked out to the middle in the second over of the game as his team lost two early wickets in the chase of 166. He built a crucial partnership with former RPS skipper MS Dhoni and the duo kept the team in the hunt while pushing back the pressure on GL bowlers. Towards the end of his knock Stokes was cramping heavily and struggled while taking the singles, but that didn’t hamper his ability to hit the big shots and got to his hundred in the last over with a boundary and remained unbeaten on 103 as his team got over the line.

Chris Gayle holds the record for the most centuries in the IPL as the Jamaican has notched up 5 three-figure marks. His skipper at RCB, Virat Kohli, has four against his name – all scored in one season, 2016, which is a record for most hundreds in one season. Warner now is joint third in the list of most hundreds in the tournament along with South African AB de Villiers.

David Warner’s 126 was the first century by a Sunrisers player. This was the seventh hundred scored against KKR and also the highest score recorded against the 2-time champions. The left-handed opener also became the fifth IPL captain to score a century the other four being Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist and Virat Kohli. Neither one of these four have scored in excess of 119 which makes Warner’s 126 the highest score by an IPL skipper.

Out of the 46 centuries, only 17 belong to Indians as 29 were scored by overseas recruits. Manish Pandey was the first Indian to score a hundred when he blazed away to 114* against Deccan Charges at the Centurion in 2009. Clearly, the foreign players have performed better in Indian conditions, which is a little surprising.

Gayle holds the record for the highest score in the history of T20 cricket. He achieved that feat playing in the IPL as he murdered the Pune Warriors attack on his way for a memorable 175* in 2013.

Here is the list of all the centurions in the IPL:

(Stats updated till May 1, 2017)Stats by HR Gopal Krishna