De Grandhomme hits fastest maiden Test hundred
Colin de Grandhomme also blasted the second fastest Test century by a New Zealand batsman, with all of his runs coming in the third session in Wellington
Shiva Jayaraman
02-Dec-2017
Colin de Grandhomme notched up his maiden Test hundred in just 71 balls in New Zealand's first innings against West Indies in Wellington. His knock is the second-fastest hundred for New Zealand in Tests and one of the fastest in the format. Brendon McCullum had hit a century off just 54 deliveries against Australia in Christchurch in 2016, which is also the fastest ever in terms of deliveries faced by a batsman.
De Grandhomme's hundred is the fastest recorded innings for a maiden Test hundred. He broke a record which had stood for over a hundred years: England's Gilbert Jessop had made his maiden - and only - Test hundred in 76 deliveries at the Oval in 1902.
| Batsman | BF | Opposition, Venue |
| Colin de Grandhomme | 71 | v WI, Wellington, '17-18 |
| Gilbert Jessop | 76 | v AUS, the Oval, 1902 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 85 | v AUS, Mohali, '12-13 |
| Chris Cairns | 86 | v ZIM, Auckland, '95-96 |
| Mitchell Johnson | 86 | v SA, Cape Town, '08-09 |
| Hardik Pandya | 86 | v SL, Pallekelle, '17 |
De Grandhomme came in to bat just after tea and clobbered 105 runs off 74 balls he faced, in the process becoming only the sixth New Zealand batsman to make 100 or more runs in a single session in Tests. The previous New Zealand batsman to do so was Daniel Vettori, who hit 127 runs between tea and close of play in Harare in 2005-06.
| Batsman | Runs | Session | Opposition, Venue |
| Ian Smith | 140 | Tea to Close of play | v IND, Auckland, '89-90 |
| Nathan Astle | 139 | Tea to Close of play | v ENG, Christchurch, '01-02 |
| Daniel Vettori | 127 | Tea to Close of play | v ZIM, Harare, '05-06 |
| Chris Cairns | 105 | Tea to Close of play | v SA, Auckland, '03-04 |
| Colin de Grandhomme | 105 | Tea to Close of play | v WI, Wellington, '17-18 |
| Lou Vincent | 101 | Lunch to Tea | v SL, Wellington, '04-05 |
Grandhomme's strike rate of 141.89 in this innings is the sixth-highest in Test history (where balls faced information is available). The other New Zealand batsmen collectively scored 323 runs at a strike rate of just 46.08. This difference in strike rates between him and the other New Zealand batsmen of 95.81 is the fifth-highest for any batsman scoring 100 or more runs in a Test innings.
| Batsman | Opposition, season | Batsman SR | Others SR | Diff |
| Viv Richards | v ENG, '86 | 189.65 | 60.00 | 129.65 |
| Misbah-ul-Haq | v AUS, '14-15 | 177.19 | 52.92 | 124.27 |
| Brendon McCullum | v AUS, '15-16 | 183.54 | 68.13 | 115.40 |
| Adam Gilchrist | v ENG, '05-06 | 172.88 | 66.28 | 106.59 |
| Colin de Grandhomme | v WI, '17-18 | 141.89 | 46.07 | 95.81 |
Shiva Jayaraman is a senior stats analyst at ESPNcricinfo @shiva_cricinfo