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Kiran Navgire sets new gold standards in T20 cricket; smashes West Indies legend's fastest century record
Kiran Navgire set a new record with a 34-ball century in women's T20 cricket, leading Maharashtra to a nine-wicket victory over Punjab.
On Friday evening, Maharashtra opener Kiran Navgire tore up the record books with a 34-ball century, the fastest ever in women’s T20 cricket, powering a nine-wicket win over Punjab in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy. It eclipsed Sophie Devine’s 36-ball record and recenters the conversation around Indian women’s power-hitting just weeks into the World Cup season.
Navgire did not just smash the record; she also detonated the chase. Maharashtra were set 111, and she razed it almost single-handedly. Navgire scored 106 runs off 35 deliveries with 14 fours and 7 sixes in her knock at a strike rate of over 300. Maharashtra chased down the target in just eight overs, making a mockery of the chase.
The significance of the strike rate
In women’s cricket, Navgire now sits at the top of the fastest-hundred list, pushing Devine to number two and Deandra Dottin’s iconic 38-ball T20I century to number three. Dottin’s effort still stands as the women’s T20I record; however, Navgire owns it when the whole scenario of T20 cricket is considered.
If we stack it against the men’s game, the scale still remains elite. The fastest hundred in any men’s T20 belongs to Sahil Chauhan, who scored a century in just 27 balls for Estorina, with Chris Gayle’s 30-ball IPL knock remaining the gold standard in franchise cricket. In the entire T20 universe, Navgire’s 34-ball effort places her in the same conversational tier as those two outliers.
If we look at the longer arc, then Navgire has been signaling this ceiling for a while. She scored 162 off 76 deliveries for Nagaland in 2022, which established her as one of the elite hitters in the format. This century refines the prototype. For India, where the ODI and T20 batting plans are demanding front-end acceleration to unlock middle-over freedom, this is tactical gold.
Numbers aside, the innings alter selection conversations. Strike rate inflation at the top has been the defining shift of modern women’s T20s. Players who can front-load 45-60 runs inside 25 balls change the match dynamics and resource allocation for everyone else. If Navgire’s ball striking holds against better quality attacks, she would redefine T20 cricket.
