While 2013 was all about AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli as they fought for the No1 ODI ranking among the batsmen, the first day of the new year 2014 in ODI cricket was all about little known Corey Anderson.
The 23-year-old from New Zealand in the match against West Indies slammed a 36 ball ton at Queenstown which is now the fastest ODI century. The record was earlier held by Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi which he had made against Sr Lanka in 1996 in 37 balls.
Anderson hit 14 sixes and six fours in his knock as he scored a mammoth 131 off 47 balls and was not out helping New Zealand to a score of 283/4 in a rain shortened match of 21 overs per side.
Born December 13, 1990 Corey Anderson is from Auckland and bats left-handed. Anderson is an all-rounder like Afridi whose record he usurped and bowls lefy arm medium pace.
He made his Test and ODI debuts in 2013 against Bangladesh and England respectively. Besides his awesome knock on Wednesday, Anderson in his 5 match Test career also managed a 100 in the longer form of the game.
Prior to the fastest ton feat, Anderson has been known in the Kiwi circuit as a clean hitter of the ball who plays with amazing timing and great power.
Corey Anderson's 100 that has made him immortal in ODI cricket history books is a plus for New Zealand who are currently struggling with form as many of they top players seem in disarray on the pitch, the rise of a new star on New Year's day is a great fillip for the team with the T20 World Cup scheduled to happen later in the year.
Here are some Twitter reactions to Corey Anderson's feat:
