A plethora of stats and records are available on varied aspects of one-day cricket, but this will surely be a chequered one. The centuries in the previous cricket era are only considered an essential aspect of a player in Test Cricket. But, today, its generosity has increased in limited-overs formats also, like ODI & T20s. No one could forget the fastest centuries hit by AB de Villiers, Shahid Afridi, Virender Sehwag, and Virat Kohli that aided their respective teams to achieve milestone victories. But there are meager ones that put a cricket fan in a mega dilemma.
Many individuals juggle between the two facets, whether this stuff should be praised or should disruptively detract. Because in the end, a ton remains a three-figure number which can never be underrated even if it takes too much time to come out. There are mens like Ramiz Raza, Scott Styris & Tom Cooper who add this unwanted feather in their highly prestigious cap. Not many Indians have achieved this milestone in world cricket, but few like Sourav Ganguly, Ajay Jadeja & Sachin Tendulkar have tried.
So before going deep into this, here are the top 5 mens in ODI cricket who hit the slowest centuries in the 50-overs format.
Slowest Centuries in ODI Cricket
| Player | Balls Taken to 100 | Against | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Boon (AUS) | 166 | India | Hobart | 1991 |
| Ramiz Raja (PAK) | 157 | West Indies | Melbourne | 1992 |
| Geoff Marsh (AUS) | 156 | England | Lord’s | 1989 |
| Scott Styris (NZ) | 152 | Sri Lanka | St George’s | 2007 |
| Ramiz Raja (PAK) | 152 | Sri Lanka | Adelaide | 1990 |
| Tom Cooper (NED) | 151 | Afghanistan | Voorburg | 2010 |
| Geoff Marsh (AUS) | 150 | West Indies | Georgetown | 1991 |
| David Hemp (BER) | 150 | Kenya | Potchefstroom | 2009 |
| Shai Hope (WI) | 149 | India | Chennai | 2019 |
| David Boon (AUS) | 146 | West Indies | Melbourne | 1992 |
Let’s look into the slowest five centuries in ODI in detail, shall we?
#1 David Boon – 166 Balls
Final Score: 102 (168) vs India | Match Scorecard
The Australian team was touring India in 1992, and a one-day series was in progress. Chasing 175 in a mid-match of the ODI series, David Boon, the Aussie opener, achieved this rarest feat on his name. He made a long partnership with his opening partner Alan Border of 129 runs and finally got to the target set by the Indians. Indians tried so hard to restrict team Australia, but Boon had contrasting intentions on that day in his mind.
#2 Ramiz Raja – 157 Balls
Final Score: 102*(158) vs West Indies | Match Scorecard
Pakistan was fighting a hard match on the slow and tricky surface of Melbourne Cricket Ground against West Indies in the World Cup 1992. Ramiz had scored the ton of 102* in a long-running stock of 157 deliveries. He was looking at his best that day; with the help of his ton, Pakistan had scored 220 runs in the 1st innings. But, in reply West Indies had quickly chased down the target with all 10 wickets in hand and 19 balls were still spare in the game.
#3 Geoff Marsh – 156 Balls
Final Score: 111*(162) vs England | Match Scorecard
Batting first, the team England has set the target of 279 runs in the match of an ODI series played in 1989. Geoff Marsh, the father of Shaun & Mitchell Marsh, has put on the display one of the slowest tons in the history of ODI cricket. He has scored 111* in 162 deliveries with a strike rate of 68.51 while batting in the opening position. Though highly time-consuming, his ton had taken Australia to the victory over the target of 279 runs and won just before three balls to the left.
#4 Scott Styris – 152 Balls
Final Score: 111*(157) vs Sri Lanka | Match Scorecard
In the 2007 Men’s World Cup, New Zealand faced Sanath Jayasuriya leading Sri Lanka in the Super 8s. Batting first, the lethal bowling of the Srilankan team was falling the kiwi batting line-up like a pack of cards. However, Scott Styris stuck to one end and smashed 111 runs in 152 balls. While Sri Lanka was restricted to the score of 219 runs and later, they won the game by chasing down such a small aim.
#5 Ramiz Raja – 152 Balls
Final Score: 107*(154) vs Sri Lanka | Match Scorecard
Ramiz again bagged the last position in the list as he scored again a highly pace-less innings of 107*(152) against Sri Lanka in an ODI encounter. Though Raja scored a highly slow ton, Pakistan still put on the target of 315 runs before the Sri Lankans. Ramiz Raja has never been renowned as an attacking batsman, and thus he has been inducted two times into the list.
