Anderson out of this world
West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo has quickly put a call out to Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming to headhunt man of the moment Corey Anderson for the Indian Premier League this year.
Anderson, 23, announced himself on the international scene in dramatic and scintillating style against the West Indies in Queenstown yesterday when the New Zealand allrounder scored the fastest century in any form of international cricket.
In a reduced 21 overs- per- side oneday international Anderson brought up his century in just 36 balls which knocked off the world record set by Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi in 1996.
Afridi held the record with 37 balls and with Anderson on 95 from 35 balls he needed to hit the 36th ball for six to put himself into the record books.
Anderson, who grew up in Canterbury but now plies his trade domestically with Northern Districts, did just that, bringing the Queenstown crowd to their feet and full of voice as they marvelled at one of the finest innings seen in New Zealand cricket.
Anderson said later that he wasn’t exactly aware he had broken the record for the fastest century until he heard the ground announcement.
‘‘ I just thought it was a pretty quick hundred; I didn’t realise that it was the fastest,’’ he said.
Anderson finished 131 not out from 47 balls in an innings that included 14 sixes and six fours.
In 36 balls Anderson had quickly switched from a player trying to find his feet in the international arena to being the talk of world cricket.
Bravo – who plays for the Super Kings in the cash- laden IPL – soon tapped Anderson on the shoulder and told him if he has his way he’ll soon being playing alongside him India.
‘‘ When finished the match, as disappointed as I was, I said to him I hope to see him in the Chennai Super Kings. The auction is around the corner and hopefully MS [ Dhoni, the captain] and Flem [ coach Stephen Fleming] pick him up.’’
The praise kept coming for Ander-
IIn 2007 while still at Christchurch Boys’ High School Anderson’s talents were regonised when he was handed a full- time professional domestic contract with the Canterbury Wizards.
He was touted as the next Chris Cairns but a series of injuries halted his development and there was a fear Anderson would not live up to all the hype.
In 2012 he had shaked off all the injuries and was included in the Black Caps setup to head to South Africa where he debuted in international cricket.
Without being startling he had worked his way into playing all three formats for New Zealand.
Yesterday at 23 years old he announced himself to the cricket world with his world record century from just 36 balls to confirm he is the real deal. son. This time it was his skipper Brendon McCullum who was lining up to give New Zealand cricket’s new superstar a pat on the back.
‘‘ I don’t know how many onedayers there have ever been played – there’s probably in excess of, I don’t know, 3000 maybe – and for him to be No 1 in terms of the speed he was able to get to a hundred, and Jesse is No 6, is unbelievable really.
‘‘ That to me is the cleanest hitting I’ve ever seen at a ground. Today was as good as I’ve ever seen live.’’
While Anderson was etching his name into folklore, at the other end his partner in crime Jesse Ryder was just as impressive, even though the spotlight was shining brightly on Anderson.
Ryder brought up his century in 46 balls which made him sixth fastest on the list of ODI hundreds.
McCullum said it would be wrong not to acknowledge just what a special innings Ryder produced.
‘‘ For both of them to come out and do what they did today and to create history and to do it in a manner that was so brutal, shows what good players they are.’’
The pair put on 191 for the fourth wicket which is a New Zealand record.
New Zealand’s 22 sixes in their innings was also an ODI team record, which is remarkable given they had only 21 overs to work with.
New Zealand finished 283- 4 from their 21 overs and when West Indies had their turn at bat the game was already toast.
They finished on 124- 5, a whopping 159 runs short of the target.
On a day when two centuries were scored it was hardly surprising Brendon McCullum’s contribution wasn’t all that prominent but even his 33 from 11 balls was something special to watch.
His first five balls faced went for 24 runs as he set the tone for Ryder and Anderson.
The ODI series will head to Nelson for the fourth match on Saturday, with the five- match series level at 1- 1.