AB de Villiers 100* off 53 balls (2016 Final)

Lore & Background

The context of that final cannot be overstated. Sunrisers Hyderabad had entered the 2016 season as a side in transition, carrying the weight of three seasons without a title and a fanbase in a city that had grown to love cricket but had yet to taste the ultimate prize. Royal Challengers Bangalore, perennial contenders, were the opponents in the decider. The atmosphere in Uppal was electric, the stands packed with orange, and the pressure on the batting order immense. When de Villiers reached the crease, the expectation was a steady, controlled knock to guide the run rate. What he delivered instead was something else entirely.

The innings was a masterclass in controlled violence. Every shot seemed to find a gap that did not exist, every delivery was punished with a timing that looked almost effortless. The crowd noise swelled ball after ball, and by the time he had crossed fifty, the stadium was in a state of collective delirium. The final runs to reach the century came with a boundary that sent the stands into a roar that, by all accounts, was felt in the chest more than heard. He did not need to hit the last ball, but the 53-ball mark was already etched into the record books. The remaining runs sealed a victory by eight, and the orange dyes that night were not just paint—they were a city claiming a title.

In the years since, the innings has taken on a mythic quality in SRH lore. It is the benchmark against which every big-match performance is measured. New players are told, 'Go out there and do what AB did.' The 53-ball century is not just a statistic; it is the emotional core of the franchise, the moment the orange flag stopped being a hope and became a fact.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights hummed. Uppal was a sea of orange, the air thick with the smell of samosas and the low, rolling rumble of thirty thousand people breathing as one. De Villiers stepped out, adjusted his gloves, and looked down the pitch. The bowler ran in. The first ball was clipped to the leg side. The second was pulled. The third was a straight drive that sailed into the second tier. By ball ten, the commentary box had gone quiet, the microphones picking up only the crack of willow and the thunder of the crowd. He did not look up. He did not need to. The scoreboard was a suggestion; the ball was the only truth. Fifty-three deliveries later, the number on the screen read 100, and the asterisk glowed like a small, defiant star. The stadium did not cheer. It detonated.

Reader's Guide

AB de Villiers scored 100 not out off 53 balls in the IPL 2016 Final, the fastest century ever recorded in an IPL final at the time of the innings. He achieved it against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad, guiding Sunrisers Hyderabad to a victory by eight runs and their first IPL championship.

What makes the record endure is not just the speed—53 balls is a blistering pace even by T20 standards—but the context. It was a final. It was the franchise's first title. And it was de Villiers, a player whose batting was already legendary, choosing to play with a freedom that made the innings feel less like a score and more like a statement. The 14 sixes in the knock, the sheer variety of shots, the complete absence of fear—these are the details fans replay in their minds every time they talk about that night.

SRH supporters still bring up the 53-ball century as the single greatest moment in the club's history. It is the answer to 'What is Sunrisers Hyderabad?' before any roster, any season, any statistic. It is the night the orange flag stopped being a question mark and became an exclamation point, and no amount of subsequent seasons can dilute the fact that one man, in one innings, at one ground, made a city believe.

Did You Know?

• The 100* off 53 balls was the fastest century in IPL history at the time the innings was completed, a record that stood for years.
• The innings included 14 sixes, making it one of the most six-laden centuries in T20 cricket history.
• Sunrisers Hyderabad had never won the IPL before 2016; that final was the franchise's first and, to date, only title.
• The match was played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, the same venue that has hosted every IPL final since 2016.