Mohammed Azharrudden scored a 54-ball 137 at the Wankhede Stadium.
Opener Mohammed Azharuddeen cracked the second-fastest T20 century -- 100 off 37 balls -- to help Kerala maul host Mumbai by eight wickets in an Elite E match of the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Wednesday. Although Azharuddeen missed by a mere five balls the record of Rishabh Pant, his effort was the joint-third-fastest century by an Indian.
Chasing Mumbai's 196 for seven wickets in 20 overs, Kerala made 201 for the loss of just two wickets in just 15.5 overs and collected four points at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Thanks to Azharuddeen's 54-ball 137 not out, Kerala posted their highest total of the tournament while chasing a target.
Azharuddeen, 26, who became the first Kerala player to score a century in the tournament, scored the runs at an amazing strike rate of 253.70, thanks to nine boundaries and 11 sixes, as he and guest player Robin Uthappa (33 off 23 balls) added 129 run for the opening wicket. After that partnership, it was smooth sailing for Kerala.
West Indies's Chris Gayle holds the record of the fastest T20 century, which he scored off only 30 balls during his smashing 175 not out off 66 balls for the Royal Challengers Bangalore against the Pune Warriors India in the 2013 IPL.
Pant scored his hundred off 32 balls for Delhi against Himachal Pradesh in Delhi in 2018. Rohit Sharma's 35-ball century against Sri Lanka in a T20 International is the second fastest among Indians. Azharuddeen's 37-ball ton equalled Yusuf Pathan's century for Rajasthan Royals against the Mumbai Indians in the 2010 IPL.
Brief scores:
Elite D (in Indore):
Services: 160/7 in 20 overs (Ravi Chauhan 67, Rahul Singh 37, Lakshay Garg 2/25) lost to Goa: 163/5 in 19.4 overs (Aditya Kaushik 78, Amit Verma 42, Mohit Kumar 3/32) by 5 wickets with 2 balls remaining
Saurashtra: 233/7 in 20 overs (Avi Barot 93, Prerak Mankad 59, Arpit Vasavada 39, Darshan Nalkande 4/32, Yash Thakur 2/47) beat Vidarbha: 154 all out in 17.2 overs (Jitesh Sharma 43, Siddhesh Wath 21, Akshay Karnewar 21, Chetan Sakariya 5/11, Prerak Mankad 4/48) by 79 runs
Rajasthan: 148 all out in 19.2 overs (Mahipal Lomror 51, Ankit Lamba 32, Avesh Khan 4/22, Kuldeep Sen 3/21) beat Mashya Pradesh: 138/8 in 20 overs (Parth Sahani 74, Venkatesh Iyer 27, Rahul Chahar 5/14) by 10 runs
Elite E (in Mumbai):
Mumbai 196/7 in 20 overs (Aditya Tare 42, Yashasvi Jaiswal 40; KM Asif 3/25) lost to Kerala 201/2 in 15.5 overs (Mohammed Azharuddeen 137 not out, Robin Uthappa 33; Shams Mulani 1/41) by eight wickets with 25 balls remaining
Puducherry 148/4 in 20 overs (Sheldon Jackson 82, Paras Dogra 32; Arun Chaprana 2/19) lost to Haryana 149/4 in 19 overs (Himanshu Rana 58, Shivam Chauhan 45; Pankaj Singh 2/31) by six wickets with six balls remaining
Andhra 124/9 in 20 overs (Ashwin Hebbar 32, KV Sasikanth 21; Ishant Sharma 2/17) lost to Delhi 128/4 in 17 overs (Anuj Rawat 33, Himmat Singh 32 not out; Harishankar Reddy 2/40) by six wickets with 18 balls remaining
Plate (in Chennai):
Arunachal Pradesh: 145/7 in 20 overs (Techi Doria 36, Rahul Dalal 31, Akhilesh Sahani 31) lost to Nagaland: 149/1 in 15.5 overs (Shrikant Mundhe 69, Chetan Bist 50) by nine wickets with 25 balls remaining
Sikkim 110/8 in 20 overs (Varun Sood 28, Nilesh Lamichaney 24; Ashutosh 4/18) lost to Bihar 111/2 in 19.1 overs (Mangal Mahrour 55, Shasheem Rathour 38; Rajiv Daree 1/22) by eight wickets with five balls remaining
Chandigarh 178/5 in 20 overs (Shivam Bhambri 56, Manan Vohra 39; Bishworjit Konthoujam 2/33) beat Manipur 68/8 in 20 overs (Kishan Thokchom 22, L Kishan Singha 20 not out; Gurinder Singh 3/10) by 110 runs.
Meghalaya 230/6 in 20 overs (Punit Bisht 146 not out, Yogesh Tiwari 53; Lalnunkima Varte 2/45) beat Mizoram 100/9 in 20 overs (KB Pawan 33, Pratik Desai 27; Aditya Singhania 4/15) by 130 runs.
(With inputs from IANS).
