AB de Villiers' 100* in IPL Final (2016)

Lore & Background

The 2016 IPL Final arrived with enormous weight. Mumbai Indians were the defending champions, fresh off their 2015 triumph, and carried the aura of a dominant side. Sunrisers Hyderabad, meanwhile, were fighting for their first-ever IPL crown in front of their own city. The atmosphere at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium was electric, the stands packed with orange-clad fans who had waited years for this moment.

AB de Villiers, already a global icon for his 360-degree strokeplay, stepped in with the score needing a steady anchor. Rather than chase the ball, he controlled it—rotating the strike with clinical precision before accelerating into the deeper overs. His 100* was not a power-hitting spectacle in the traditional sense; it was a masterclass in timing, placement, and composure under the brightest possible lights. He never looked troubled, never lost his shape, and walked off with his bat still in hand as the final over concluded.

The finish was heart-stopping: SRH needed just a handful of runs to win, and the margin of four runs meant the entire crowd was on their feet for the last few deliveries. AB's century was the backbone of that chase, the difference between a title and another heartbreak. For Hyderabad fans, that innings became the single image they would carry through every subsequent season—the moment their team became champions.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights hummed above a sea of orange. The air in Hyderabad tasted of dust and excitement, the kind that builds over a whole season and detonates in one night. AB stood at the crease, bat resting on his shoulder, watching the bowler's run-up. The stadium was a living thing—thousands of voices rising and falling in waves. He tapped the bat on the pitch, adjusted his grip, and let the first delivery clip off the edge of the blade into the mid-wicket grass. A murmur. Then the next. And the next. Each shot a small, perfect sentence in a paragraph that would become a story told for years. By the time he reached his hundred, the crowd noise had shifted from anticipation to something almost religious—a held breath, a collective prayer. He raised his bat. No celebration. Just a nod, a small smile, and the quiet understanding that the job was nearly done. Four runs away. The last over stretched into eternity. And then silence, and then eruption.

Reader's Guide

AB de Villiers scored 100* (53 balls) in the IPL 2016 Final, playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Mumbai Indians at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. SRH won the match by four runs, claiming their first IPL title.

What makes it stick in the memory: it was the only century in the final, it came at AB's home ground in front of a capacity crowd, and the margin of victory was so thin that the last few balls felt like a different sport entirely. AB was named Player of the Match.

Fans still bring it up because it represents the perfect intersection of individual brilliance and collective triumph. Hyderabad had waited years for an IPL crown, and the man who delivered it did so without losing his wicket, without a single moment of visible strain. In a league full of big-hitting finales, this one was about control, patience, and the quiet confidence of a player who knew exactly what the next ball would do before it left the bowler's hand. It is the innings Hyderabad fans point to when someone questions whether SRH ever truly had a "defining moment." They did. It was that one.

Did You Know?

• AB de Villiers' 100* was the only century scored in the entire IPL 2016 Final.
• Sunrisers Hyderabad won the match by just four runs, making AB's unbeaten century the decisive margin of the entire contest.
• This was Sunrisers Hyderabad's first-ever IPL title, and the final was played at their home ground in Hyderabad.
• AB de Villiers was named Player of the Match for his 100* performance.