Australian batter, Travis Head broke his own record of fastest 100 in Day/Night Test matches by reaching the three figures off just 111 balls on Day 2 of the IND vs 2nd Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday. The previous record for the fastest century in a pink ball Test also belonged to Head when he scored a 112-ball century against England in Hobart in 2022. Interestingly, all three fastest pink-ball Test centuries now belong to Head. Let us check out the list of fastest 100s in Day-Night Test matches so far.
Fastest 100s in day-night Tests (balls faced)
Travis Head (Aus flag) (111 balls) vs Ind Adelaide 2024 (bold)
Travis Head (112 balls) vs Eng Hobart 2022
Travis Head (125) vs WI Adelaide 2022
Joe Root (Eng flag) (139 balls) v WI Edgbaston 2017
Asad Shafiq (Pak flag) (140 balls) v Aus Brisbane 2016
IND vs AUS 2nd Test: Travis Head puts Aussies in Command
Head got some luck when he was on 78. He got a couple of reprieves at the same score. First off the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin, when he top-edged a slog sweep and Mohammed Siraj grasped a difficult chance despite putting in a good effort running backwards from mid-on.
In the very next over bowled by Harshit Rana, Head flashed at one outside the off stump and got an outside edge but it went between keeper Rishabh Pant and second slip Rohit Sharma. India did not have the first slip in place and Pant didn’t even go for the catch.
Once he entered, he got past those two hiccups; there was no stopping Travis Head. The attacking left-hander then hit three boundaries off Rana’s next five balls and completed his century with a single off Ashwin. He took his helmet off, made the cradle gesture for his newborn son and waved at his wife and daughter in the stands.
Head’s blistering century, scored at close to a run-a-ball, took Australia past the 300-run mark and, more importantly, set them up for a massive first innings lead. India were bowled out for 180 in their first innings after winning the series opener in Perth by 295 runs.
