Australian wicketkeeper-opener Alyssa Healy rewrote the record books last month, as she smashed an unbeaten 148 from 61 balls in the second T20I against Sri Lanka at the North Sydney Oval. This innings, which powered Australia to 226/7 and eventually a thumping 132-run win, is now the highest individual score in women’s T20I history. The previous record was 133*, made by Australia’s captain Meg Lanning against England at Chelmsford in July this year.  

Healy’s knock was studded with 19 fours and seven sixes, and provided the 20th instance of a century in women’s T20Is, of which ten have been witnessed in 2019 itself. On that note, here is a look at a few interesting facts and figures surrounding centuries in women’s T20Is.

Centuries by position, team and opposition

As many as 15 out of the 20 centuries in women’s T20Is so far have been scored by opening batswomen. Out of the remaining five, three have been scored from number three and one each from number five and number six.

Australia, with five instances, have contributed the most number of centuries in women’s T20Is. England and the West Indies follow with three each, while Uganda have had two such instances. India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Tanzania complete the list with one instance each.

On the other hand, Mali have been at the receiving end the most number of times, what with four centuries conceded till date. South Africa and Sri Lanka have conceded three centuries each, while Australia, England and Ireland have conceded two each. Germany, India, the Netherlands and New Zealand have had one century each scored against them.  

The first century

Deandra Dottin of the West Indies had the honour of scoring the first ever century in women’s T20Is, in what was the 62nd women’s T20I of all time. To top it, she achieved the feat in the opening game of the 2010 World T20 in the Caribbean, against South Africa at Basseterre, and till date remains the only woman to have hit a T20I ton batting at number six. Coming in at 52/4, Dottin, then yet to turn 19, blazed 112* in just 45 balls to propel the West Indies to a 17-run win.  

The fastest centuries

Dottin’s aforementioned century took a mere 38 balls, and remarkably, it remains – by far – the fastest century in women’s T20Is nearly a decade later. Dottin hit seven fours and nine sixes in a stunning display, helping the Windies total a formidable, and ultimately match-winning, 175/5. Healy’s hundred against Sri Lanka last month was the second fastest (off 46 balls), going past Tammy Beaumont’s 47-ball effort for England against South Africa at Taunton in 2018.

Centuries in a losing cause

Two centuries have been in a losing cause, and the winning team on both occasions had a centurion as well. The first instance was at Canberra in 2017-18, when Beth Mooney’s 117* for Australia went in vain against England, who rode on Danielle Wyatt’s 100 to post a four-wicket win. Mooney (113) was on the winning side the second time, at Sydney in the first T20I of the recent series against Sri Lanka, who lost by 41 runs despite captain Chamari Atapattu’s own 113.  

Centuries while chasing

Atapattu’s valiant 113 was the third time that a century was scored in the second innings of a women’s T20I. The previous two such centuries were both recorded by Wyatt, and both were in a winning cause. Wyatt’s aforesaid 100 at Canberra enabled England to chase down 179, while four months later, her 124 was instrumental in England’s seven-wicket win against India at Mumbai, with the target being 199 this time – the highest ever chased to win a women’s T20I.   

Batswomen scoring more than one century

Dottin became the first woman to record two T20I centuries when she scored 112 against Sri Lanka at Coolidge in 2017-18, adding to her record-setting 112*. Since then, three other women have joined the list – Wyatt (100 v Australia at Canberra and 124 v India at Mumbai, both in 2017-18), Lanning (126 v Ireland at Sylhet in 2013-14 and 133* v England at Chelmsford in 2019) and Mooney (117* v England at Canberra in 2017-18 and 113 v Sri Lanka in 2019-20).  

Centuries in the same innings

The first instance of two tons in the same innings of a T20I – whether men’s or women’s – was seen in the fifth match of the Kwibuka Women’s T20, a quadrangular series played in Kigali in in June 2019. Thanks to a record 227-run stand for the second wicket between Prosscovia Alako (116) and captain Rita Musamali (103*), Uganda amassed 314/2 – the highest total across men’s and women’s T20Is. As if this was not enough, Mali were rolled over for a miniscule 10 in reply.     

Centuries by captains

There have been seven instances of a captain scoring a century in a women’s T20I. As stated above, Lanning has achieved the feat twice, while Musamali and Atapattu have done it for Uganda and Sri Lanka respectively. The other three women in this club are New Zealand’s Suzie Bates (124* v South Africa at Taunton in 2018), India’s Harmanpreet Kaur (103 v New Zealand at Providence in 2018-19, and Tanzania’s Fatuma Kibasu (108* v Mali at Kigali in 2019).

Centuries at the World T20

The first match of the second edition of the Women’s World T20 in 2010 saw Dottin stun South Africa in the course of becoming the first woman to score a century at the tournament. Her score of 112* was surpassed in the 2014 edition by Lanning (126) in Australia’s 78-run win against Ireland at Sylhet. In the 2018 edition, Harmanpreet (103) came in at 40/3 against New Zealand at Providence and steered the total to 194/5, which proved enough to give India a 34-run victory.

Centuries by batswomen from Associate teams

The ICC’s decision to expand T20I status to all member nations, which came into effect in July 2018, has led to more opportunities for players from Associate teams to feature in official records. Consequently, five women from Associate sides have hit T20I hundreds, all of them in 2019 – the Ugandan duo of Alako and Musamali, Rwanda’s Marie Bimenyimana (114* v Mali at Kigali), Tanzania’s Kibasu, and the Netherlands’ Sterre Kalis (126* v Germany at Cartagena).

Complete list of centuries in women’s T20Is (as on October 2, 2019):

148* by Alyssa Healy (Australia) v Sri Lanka, Sydney, 2019-20
133* by Meg Lanning (Australia) v England, Chelmsford, 2019
126* by Sterre Kalis (Netherlands) v Germany, Cartagena, 2019
126 by Meg Lanning (Australia) v Ireland, Sylhet, 2013-14
124* by Suzie Bates (New Zealand) v South Africa, Taunton, 2018
124 by Danielle Wyatt (England) v India, Mumbai, 2017-18
117* by Beth Mooney (Australia) v England, Canberra, 2017-18
116* by Shandre Fritz (South Africa) v Netherlands, Potchefstroom, 2010-11
116 by Tammy Beaumont (England) v South Africa, Taunton, 2018
116 by Prosscovia Alako (Uganda) v Mali, Kigali, 2019
114* by Marie Bimenyimana (Rwanda) v Mali, Kigali, 2019
113 by Beth Mooney (Australia) v Sri Lanka, Sydney, 2019-20
113 by Chamari Atapattu (Sri Lanka) v Australia, Sydney, 2019-20
112* by Deandra Dottin (West Indies) v South Africa, Basseterre, 2010
112 by Deandra Dottin (West Indies) v Sri Lanka, Coolidge, 2017-18
108* by Fatuma Kibasu (Tanzania) v Mali, Kigali, 2019
107* by Hayley Matthews (West Indies) v Ireland, Dublin, 2019
103* by Rita Musamali (Uganda) v Mali, Kigali, 2019
103 by Harmanpreet Kaur (India) v New Zealand, Providence, 2018-19
100 by Danielle Wyatt (England) v Australia, Canberra, 2017-18