Brisbane Heat opener Grace Harris scored the fastest ever century in the Women’s Big Bash League, as her side crushed Melbourne Stars by 10 wickets on Wednesday to register their second straight league victory.
The previous fastest in the WBBL had come from the bat of Sydney Sixers’ Ashleigh Gardner, who took just 47 deliveries to reach the landmark last year, also against the Stars.
The 25 year old Harris brought up her 100 in style with a magnificent six down the ground. Her innings of 101 came in just 42 deliveries and comprised of 13 fours and six sixes. Brisbane Heat reached their target of 138 runs in just 10.5 overs. Beth Mooney at the end had the best seats to Harris’ wonderful exhibition of shots, and remained unbeaten on 28 off 25 balls.
The right-handed batsman also become the first player to score two tons at the WBBL, having already scored 103 off 55 balls during the first edition of the league.
Harris also contributed with the ball in Brisbane’s victory, picking up the wicket of Strikers top scorer Angela Reakes. This win was also the biggest by a chasing side so far in this year’s competition.
In women’s T20 Internationals, the record is held by West Indies cricketer Deandra Dottin, who reached her century in just 38 balls against South Africa in the 2010 edition of the ICC Women’s World Cup.
Harris has 9 ODI and 11 T20 international caps for Australia, but somewhat surprisingly, her last appearance for the Southern Stars came over two years ago. She was not part of the team that won the T20 World Cup earlier this year in the West Indies.
The Heat are currently 4th in the WBBL table, with six points to show for their efforts after 5 games. Their next game will be against the defending champions Sydney Sixers at the SCG on the 22nd of December.