Grace Harris creates WBBL history with 42-ball century

Three years and a week since she lit up the inaugural edition of the WBBL with the first century of the tournament, Brisbane Heat opener Grace Harris smashed the tournament's fastest hundred, off only 42 balls, in her side's ten-wicket win over Melbourne Stars at the Gabba.

During her unbeaten 101, studded with 19 boundaries, including six sixes, Harris attacked the three Stars wristspinners - Alana King, Kirsten Beams and Ange Reaks - with particular ferocity, taking 50 off 20 balls against them. The winning hit - a six over long-on off King - also brought up her hundred.

Harris put on 77 runs in the Powerplay with Beth Mooney, whose contribution in that time was a mere 10 runs - and carted Beams for 4, 4, 6, 6 in a 23-run sixth over. Along the way, she reached her fifty off 23 balls - the joint third-fastest in WBBL history, alongside Harmanpreet Kaur's effort last week against the Heat.

Having brought up their century stand off only 50 balls, Harris and Mooney took 24 runs off the 10th over - the most expensive of the match - with Harris clattering Reaks for two sixes.

In what turned out to be a one-woman onslaught, Harris helped knock off the target in a mere 10.5 overs, after left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen had taken 3 for 17 to restrict Stars to 132 for 7. Mooney faced 25 balls for an unbeaten 28, and the unbroken opening stand steered Heat to their third win in five games this season, propelling them to the third place on the points table as the only side with a net run rate in excess of 1.

Harris's ton, the second-fastest in all women's T20s, behind West Indies allrounder Deandra Dottin's 38-ball hundred against South Africa in the 2010 World T20, is the third century of the season after 102 not-outs from Stars' Lizelle Lee and Sydney Sixers' Ellyse Perry. Harris' is the eighth century across the four WBBL seasons. She is the only player with two WBBL tons to her name.