New Zealand captain Sophie Devine smashed the fastest hundred in women's Twenty20 cricket on Thursday, reaching the milestone in just 36 balls in the domestic Super Smash competition.
Devine, 31, hit nine sixes and nine fours in her innings of 108 not out as her Wellington Blaze side beat the Otago Sparks by 10 wickets. The all-rounder broke the previous record that had stood since 2010 -- a 38-ball hundred from West Indian Deandra Dottin.
Devine said she had felt nervous coming back after spending 14 days in isolation following her return from Australia.
"Whenever you have a bit of an extended break away from the game, you get nervous about (whether) you can come back into it," she told Spark Sport.
"So it was just (nice) to spend some time in the middle and get a few out of the screws.
"Sometimes I can get a little bit carried away ... and I get a bit over eager and play some rash shots so it was nice to stick to some decent cricket shots today and finish the job."
One of Devine's sixes grazed the cheek of a girl who was watching from the grass bank at the University Oval in Dunedin.
After the match, Devine went to check on the girl, who had an ice pack against her face but appeared to have avoided any serious injury.
Abhishek Sharma's 19-ball fifty went in vain as world champions India were surprisingly beaten by Ireland for the first time in international cricket, slumping to a 34-run defeat in the first Twenty20 in Belfast on Friday.
England roared back into contention on the second day of the third and deciding test against New Zealand with Ben Duckett's rapid century helping his side to 223-2 after three wickets for returning captain Ben Stokes helped to dismiss the visitors for 438 at a sizzling Trent Bridge.
American great Serena Williams will face Australian 20-year-old Maya Joint in the first round of her eagerly awaited return to Wimbledon, a potentially tricky tie for the seven-time champion playing at the tournament for the first time since 2022.
Australia booked their spot in the knockout rounds of the World Cup on Thursday after a cagey draw against Paraguay, who are set to qualify as a third-placed finisher, while Turkey beat USA 3-2, scoring the winner with virtually the last kick of the match.