Dasun Shanaka slams fastest ton in CPL history: Key stats
What's the story
Sri Lanka's Dasun Shanaka has etched his name in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) history books by scoring the fastest century of the tournament. He achieved this remarkable feat while playing for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots against St Lucia Kings on Friday. The all-rounder reached his hundred in just 39 balls, breaking the previous record of 40 balls jointly held by Andre Russell, Tim Seifert, and Shimron Hetmyer. Here are the key stats.
Match impact
Patriots rout St Lucia Kings by 137 runs
Shanaka's blistering knock of 121 runs off just 43 balls, laced with 12 sixes and eight fours, helped his team post a mammoth total.
The Patriots scored an impressive 235/4 in their allotted overs.
In response, the St Lucia Kings were bowled out for a mere 98 runs in just over 13 overs.
This gave the Patriots a massive win by a whopping margin of 137 runs.
Team dynamics
Shanaka's promotion to No. 4 and its impact
Shanaka, who had scored an unbeaten 49 against Antigua and Barbuda Falcons batting at No. 7, was promoted to No. 4 for this match.
He attacked bowlers from the outset and scored runs all over the park.
For the fifth wicket, he dominated a 93-run stand with fellow Sri Lankan Wanindu Hasaranga, who made just nine runs in this partnership.
Game plan
Shanaka's strategy for record-breaking knock
After his record-breaking innings, Shanaka revealed that his initial strategy was to play according to the merit of the ball for the first 30 deliveries before going on attack.
"Initially, my plan was just to play according to the merit of the ball, the field placements, and what they offered," he said.
Featuring in his maiden CPL season, Shanaka has scored 255 runs across seven games at a strike rate of 229.72.
Feats
Shanaka registers these records
As per Cricinfo, Shanaka's 121* is now the joint-third-highest individual score in CPL history.
While he equaled Andre Russell's score against Trinbago Knight Riders in 2018, Brandon King (132* vs Tridents, 2019) and Seifert (125* vs Falcons, 2025) occupy the top two spots.
No other Sri Lankan owns a hundred in the competition.
Shanaka's 121* is also the highest individual CPL score while batting at four.
Hetmyer (111*) and Nicholas Pooran (100*) are the only other centurions in this regard.
T20 stats
Here are his T20 numbers
Shanaka now has four tons and 22 fifties across 320 T20 matches.
The all-rounder has now raced to 5,857 runs at an average of 26.86, with a strike rate of 147.79.
With the ball, the medium pacer has claimed 127 wickets at an economy rate of 9.04 (4W: 2).
A couple of months back, Shanaka achieved the first-ever double hat-trick in Major League Cricket (MLC) history.