England allrounder David Willey takes three wickets and smashes a century off 40 balls for Northants
Willey blasts 40-ball Twenty20 ton
England allrounder David Willey has smashed a century off 40 balls to lead Northamptonshire to the finals of England’s domestic Twenty20 competition.
Willey’s rampage in Hove included 34 runs off one Michael Yardy over, as the 25-year-old helped Northants chase Sussex’s 7-165 with seven wickets in hand and four overs to spare.
He made his intentions clear from the first ball he faced, lofting England and Sussex allrounder Chris Jordan for six, and passed fifty with another maximum, this time off Yardy in the ninth over.
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The second ball of that over went for four, landing just inside the boundary line rope at long-on, before Willey sent the remaining four balls high into the stands on the leg side.
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David Willey hits a six off Michael Yardy // Getty Images
The 10th six of his innings brought up triple figures, but Willey’s onslaught ended next ball when he was caught in the deep by Australia’s George Bailey off the bowling of Tymal Mills.
His departure left Northants needing 29 runs off 54 balls and Josh Cobb (22 not out) and skipper Alex Wakely (8 not out) polished off the seven-wicket win.
Willey, who made his one-day international debut for England in May, had earlier picked up 3-27 off four overs as Sussex posted 7-165.
His innings eclipsed New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum’s 42-ball ton for Birmingham as the fastest of the English summer, and was the third-fastest Twenty20 century scored on British soil, behind Andrew Symonds (34 balls for Kent in 2004) and Scott Styris (37 balls for Sussex in 2012).
West Indies star and Melbourne Renegades signing Chris Gayle holds the record for fastest Twenty20 century, scored off 30 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League in 2013.
Northampton are the first team into English T20 cricket’s ‘Finals Day’ where two semi-finals and the tournament final are all played on the one day, this year on 29 August at Edgbaston.