Courtesy a stunning 128-ball 179 in the final game against Pakistan in Adelaide, David Warner has etched his name in the record books by scoring the joint-highest number of ODI centuries in a single season. The daring Australian opener equaled Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara’s record by registering as many as six tons in the ongoing season.
Only the two left-handers have managed to score more than five ODI hundreds in a single season. It is interesting to note that eight batsmen ended up scoring exactly five tons. A cricket season in the southern hemisphere usually begins in October and goes on until March. In contrast, a season in the northern hemisphere (United Kingdom) starts in the middle of April and ends during September.
Warner’s spree began in the South Africa series in October. Even though a depleted Australian team were on the receiving end of a 0-5 hammering, the attacking batsman registered hundreds in Durban and Cape Town with the latter being a mammoth one at 173.
A return to familiar surroundings during the home summer fetched four more centuries for him. After plundering New Zealand’s bowling unit for sizzling tons in Canberra and Melbourne, Warner demolished Azhar Ali’s Pakistan during the last two ODIs. He followed up a 119-ball 130 in Sydney with a career-best score of 179 from just 128 balls.
Having been rested for the upcoming 3-match ODI series (Chappell-Hadlee Trophy) in New Zealand, Warner will not get any more opportunities this season to try and become the sole holder of the record.
Sangakkara‘s irrepressible form came in the 2014/15 season wherein he smashed four consecutive centuries in the World Cup Down Under. The southpaw kick started his golden run at home in the Pallekele ODI against England. A fighting 113 in Wellington helped his team earn a consolation victory in the 7-match series against New Zealand.
He followed it up with those four famous hundreds at the biggest stage of them all. He made merry in Melbourne, Wellington, Sydney and Hobart to offer some positives for Sri Lanka who suffered an ignominious defeat at the hands of South Africa in the quarter-finals.
The likes of Sourav Ganguly (1999/00), Marvan Atapattu (2002/03), Herschelle Gibbs (2002/03), VVS Laxman (2003/04), Matthew Hayden (2006/07), Virat Kohli (2011/12) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (2014/15) have all registered five ODI centuries in a season. So has Hashim Amla, who remarkably accomplished the feat twice. 10 of his 23 tons have come in the space of just two seasons (2010/11 & 2014/15).
| Batsman | Centuries | Season | Matches | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike-Rate |
| Kumar Sangakkara | 6 | 2014/15 | 24 | 1390 | 124 | 73.15 | 93.47 |
| David Warner | 6 | 2016/17 | 14 | 1100 | 179 | 78.57 | 113.75 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 5 | 1999/00 | 25 | 1215 | 153* | 52.82 | 84.72 |
| Marvan Atapattu | 5 | 2002/03 | 31 | 1134 | 124 | 42.00 | 75.34 |
| Herschelle Gibbs | 5 | 2002/03 | 22 | 1165 | 153 | 68.52 | 102.73 |
| VVS Laxman | 5 | 2003/04 | 21 | 799 | 131 | 44.38 | 82.03 |
| Matthew Hayden | 5 | 2006/07 | 26 | 1368 | 181* | 62.18 | 87.69 |
| Hashim Amla | 5 | 2010/11 | 20 | 1091 | 119* | 60.61 | 98.64 |
| Virat Kohli | 5 | 2011/12 | 21 | 1243 | 183 | 73.11 | 95.46 |
| Hashim Amla | 5 | 2014/15 | 20 | 1071 | 159 | 59.50 | 92.88 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | 5 | 2014/15 | 26 | 1324 | 161* | 55.16 | 89.15 |
(Note: All statistics are accurate as of January 26, 2017)
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