History! David Warner Goes Past Virat Kohli In Huge T20 Record

David Warner on Friday (January 16) became the third batter with the most T20 centuries after slamming his 10th ton in the format, for Sydney Thunder against rivals Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League (BBL). Only Babar Azam, 11, and Chris Gayle, 22, have more T20 centuries than the Australian legend.

Warner’s milestone knock, an unbeaten 110 off 65 balls, underpinned Thunder’s innings and lifted him into an elite club while also pushing him past 14,000 career runs in T20 cricket. His innings, laced with 11 fours and four sixes, carried Thunder to a competitive 189 for six after Sixers opted to field.

Warner is only the fourth batter to go past the 14,000-run mark in T20s and the second-quickest to do so in terms of innings (431), only behind

Gayle (423). He also became only the third batter with four back-to-back fifty-plus scores in the BBL after Usman Khawaja and Joe Clarke.

If Warner set the stage, his long-time teammate at Australia, Steve Smith, swiftly seized it for the Sixers. Opening the chase, Smith produced a breathtaking century to become the batter with the most hundreds in BBL history. His fourth ton in the competition took him past Warner and Ben McDermott.

Smith smashed five fours and nine sixes at a strike rate of 238.09, with the defining passage arriving when he plundered 32 runs off a single Ryan Hadley over, the most expensive over ever bowled in the BBL.

A 141-run opening stand between Smith and Babar Azam (47 off 39) left little doubt about the result, with the Sixers cruising to a five-wicket win with 16 balls to spare, rounding off a derby that saw both sides’ biggest stars trade milestones on the same night.

According to ESPNcricinfo, this was just the second time two players aged 35 or over hit centuries in the same men’s T20 game.