3 min readUpdated: Apr 29, 2026 09:40 PM IST
Ryan Rickelton has become the eighth different player to score a century in the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League as he got to the mark in 44 balls for Mumbai Indians against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. The South African has thus broken a record that has stood since the very first season of the IPL – he has surpassed Sanath Jayasuriya for the fastest century by an MI player.
Rickelton went on to stay unbeaten in the innings, getting to a score of 123 in 55 balls with 10 fours and eight sixes. His masterful knock powered MI to a score of 243/5 in 20 overs.
Rickelton smashed eight fours and seven sixes on his way to the mark, which is his first century in the IPL. It is also his fourth T20 century overall. While he had impressed with a 43-ball 81 in MI’s first match of the season against KKR, Rickelton was then out for single digit scores in three of his next four innings. It resulted in him being dropped for MI’s last two matches against Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings.
Rickelton then found a place at the top of the order on Thursday after his South Africa teammate Quinton de Kock was ruled out due to an injury he sustained while warming up. The new opening pair of Rickelton and Will Jacks ended up hitting the SRH bowlers to all parts of the ground, smashing 78 runs in the powerplay. Their opening stand ended on 93 in 43 balls when Jacks fell to Nitish Kumar Reddy on 46 off 22 balls. MI then lost the out-of-form Suryakumar Yadav soon thereafter and then Naman Dhir on 22 off 17 balls. It was Suryakumar at the other end when Rickelton raised his half-century in 24 balls.
Rickelton then smashed a four and a six off the third and fourth deliveries in the 15th over by Reddy to get to 99. There was a bit of a scare off what was to be the last ball when Reddy seemed to have strangled Rickelton down the leg side with a slow bouncer. While wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan appealed, the umpire called it wide and SRH captain Pat Cummins wisely decided against reviewing it. Rickelton played the next ball on side to take a single and celebrate with his family watching on from the stands.
Rickelton has thus finally become the first player to go past the extraordinary record that was set by Sri Lanka great Sanath Jayasuriya all the way back in the inaugural season of the IPL against CSK. Chasing a target of 157, Jayasuriya put up an 82-run opening stand with then-MI skipper Sachin Tendulkar in 44 balls. Incredibly, Tendulkar faced just 16 balls in that stand and scored 12 runs before falling to Joginder Sharma. Robin Uthappa then enjoyed the show from the other end like Tendulkar, finishing unbeaten on 16 off 19 balls while Jayasuriya ended the match with a score of 114 in 48 balls. His innings was punctuated by nine fours and 11 sixes.
