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What Is a Century in Cricket? Fifties, Hundreds, Five-Fors and Other Milestones

Cricket's milestones explained: fifties, centuries and double hundreds, century partnerships, five-wicket hauls, hat-tricks, maidens, and the duck.

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Key takeaways

  • A century is 100 or more runs in a single innings; a half-century is 50; 200, 300 and 400 are double, triple and quadruple centuries.
  • A century partnership is 100 runs added by two batters together.
  • A five-wicket haul, five or more wickets in an innings, is treated as the bowling equivalent of a century.
  • A hat-trick is three wickets in three consecutive deliveries by the same bowler, even if split across overs or innings.
  • A duck is a dismissal for zero; out first ball is a golden duck.

Cricket keeps score in round numbers. Fifty runs, a fifth wicket in an innings, a first-ball duck: each is a milestone with its own name, and Wikipedia's five-wicket-haul article credits Glenn McGrath with starting, in 2001, the tradition of a bowler raising the ball after taking five. This guide defines them, mostly from Wikipedia's statistics articles, and shows how they fit together.

Batting milestones

Milestone Definition
Half-century (fifty) 50 or more runs in an innings
Century (hundred) 100 or more runs in an innings
Double century 200 to 299 runs
Triple century 300 to 399 runs
Quadruple century 400 to 499 runs
Century partnership Two batters adding 100 runs together

Wikipedia's century article notes that a double or triple century is still counted statistically as a century, so a player's career "hundreds" include them. Milestones are per innings, and per player: a team total of 100 is not a century for anyone.

A few landmarks from the same article give a sense of scale. W. G. Grace became the first batter to reach 100 first-class centuries in 1895; Jack Hobbs holds the first-class record with 199. The first ODI century was Dennis Amiss's 103 for England against Australia at Old Trafford on 24 August 1972. In Tests, Sachin Tendulkar holds the record with 51 centuries.

Bowling milestones

Milestone Definition
Five-wicket haul (5wI, "five-for", "fifer") Five or more wickets by one bowler in an innings
Ten wickets in a match Ten or more wickets by one bowler across a match's innings
Hat-trick Three wickets in three consecutive deliveries by the same bowler
Maiden over An over in which no runs are scored against the bowler
Wicket maiden A maiden in which the bowler also takes a wicket

Wikipedia's five-wicket-haul article calls taking five wickets a notable achievement, regarded as equivalent to a century. At Lord's, a century, five wickets in an innings or ten wickets in a match earns a place on the ground's honours boards. The same article records Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka with the most Test five-wicket hauls, 67, and Pakistan's Waqar Younis with the most in ODIs, 13. Pakistan's Naseem Shah became the youngest bowler to take one in a Test, in 2019, aged 16.

Hat-tricks have a precise definition: three wickets from three consecutive deliveries by the bowler, which may be interrupted by an over from the other end, or even by the other team's innings. Two wickets in two balls leaves a bowler "on a hat-trick". Only wickets credited to the bowler count, so a run out does not; ways to get out explains which dismissals those are.

Maidens depend on what the bowler is charged with. Wikipedia's over article explains that byes and leg byes can still be scored in a maiden, because they do not count against the bowler; how cricket scoring works sets out which runs are charged to whom.

The unwanted milestones

Wikipedia's duck article gives the vocabulary of failure:

Term Meaning
Duck Dismissed without scoring
Golden duck Dismissed by the first ball faced
Silver duck Dismissed by the second ball faced, without scoring
Bronze duck Dismissed by the third ball faced, without scoring
Pair (spectacles) Dismissed for nought in both innings of the same two-innings match
King pair Dismissed first ball in both innings, two golden ducks

A batter who is not out on zero has not made a duck, because a duck requires a dismissal. Wikipedia explains that the pair takes its name from the two noughts together, which are thought to resemble a pair of spectacles. Even the greatest have them: Wikipedia records Don Bradman being dismissed for a first-ball duck in the second Test of the 1932–33 Ashes, on 30 December 1932.

Milestones in the numbers

Milestones and averages measure different things. A batter can score several centuries and still average modestly if the other innings are short, while a consistent player may average 45 with few hundreds. Cricket stats explained covers averages and strike rates, and the follow-on article tells the story of V. V. S. Laxman's 281 at Kolkata in 2001, a double century made after India had been asked to follow on.

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Good to know

Frequently asked questions

What is a century in cricket?
A score of 100 or more runs by one batter in a single innings. Scores of 200 to 299 are double centuries, 300 to 399 triple centuries and 400 to 499 quadruple centuries, and all still count as centuries in the statistics.
What is a five-wicket haul?
Five or more wickets taken by one bowler in a single innings, often written 5wI and nicknamed a 'five-for' or 'fifer'. Wikipedia describes it as a notable achievement, regarded as the bowling equivalent of a batter's century.
Can a hat-trick be spread over two overs?
Yes. A hat-trick is three wickets from three consecutive deliveries by the same bowler. Those deliveries can be interrupted by an over from the other end, or even by the other team's innings.
Who has scored the most Test centuries?
Sachin Tendulkar of India, with 51, according to Wikipedia, which also lists him as the leading run-scorer in Test cricket.

Sources

  1. Century (cricket) (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
  2. Five-wicket haul (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
  3. Hat-trick (cricket) (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
  4. Duck (cricket) (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
  5. Over (cricket) (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed

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