It was a day of record-breaking feats in England’s T20 Blast on Friday with Joe Denly and Daniel Christian playing blinders for their respective teams.
England all-rounder Denly became the first man in history to score a century and pick up a hat-trick in the same T20 match during Kent Spitfires’ six-run win over Surrey.
Denly opened the innings for Kent and slammed a 63-ball 102 before being dismissed in the penultimate ball of the innings. He then used his part-time leg-spin to deadly effect at the Oval when Surrey were cruising at 135-3 in chase of Kent’s 173-6.
The 32-year-old dismissed Rikki Clarke, Jack Smith and Mathew Pillans off consecutive deliveries in the 13th over to turn the game on its head. That three-wicket burst proved to be too much for Surrey in the end as they fell six runs short of Kent’s total.
Denly erupts after claiming his hat-trick.
In another T20 Blast clash, Australia all-rounder Daniel Christian slammed the joint second-fastest ton in the history of the competition to lead his Notts Outlaws side to a 58-run win over the Northants.
The Notts Outlaw skipper took only 37 balls to get to the three-figure mark and remained unbeaten on 113 as his side posted a mammoth 219-6 in their 20 overs. Christian’s innings included a staggering nine sixes.
His 37-ball ton in the competition is second only to compatriot Andrew Symond’s 34-ball effort for Kent all the way back in 2004. New Zealand’s Scott Styris had also registered a 37-ball century in the competition for Sussex in 2012.