West Indies cricketer Sherfane Rutherford has etched his name in history as the first player to score a century in the Abu Dhabi T10 League.
He achieved this remarkable feat while playing for Northern Warriors in the 12th match of the 2024 Abu Dhabi T10 League against UP Nawabs. The game was held on Sunday, November 24, at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
UP Nawabs won the toss and chose to bowl first. The Warriors quickly lost their openers, with Brandon King (16) and captain Colin Munro (5) falling cheaply, followed by Johnson Charles, who was dismissed for just one. Sherfane Rutherford, coming in at number four, exploded in the seventh over, hitting five sixes off Odean Smith, to bring up his fifty off just 24 balls.
The left-hander didn’t stop there, and smashed Adil Rashid for two sixes and a boundary in the next over.
Rutherford reached his century off 40 balls with a boundary off Farhan Khan, becoming the first player to score a hundred in the tournament’s history.
Here’s a video of the innings:
ICYMI: Sherfane Rutherford scores the first ever century in #AbuDhabiT10 history! 🤯#ADT10onFanCode pic.twitter.com/esAiDZeGGd
— FanCode (@FanCode) November 24, 2024
The 26-year-old finished unbeaten on 103 from 40 balls, smashing seven boundaries and 10 sixes, single-handedly leading the Warriors to a total of 142 in their 10 overs.
Sherfane Rutherford’s innings goes in vain as UP win the game by nine wickets
In response, Dawid Malan was dismissed cheaply for nine. However, captain Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Andre Fletcher forged a dynamic partnership, adding 125* runs off just 47 balls for the second wicket.
Fletcher was exceptional, reaching his fifty in just 20 balls and maintaining the momentum by smashing Saqib Mahmood for three sixes and a boundary in the ninth over, shifting the momentum in favor of the Nawabs. He remained unbeaten on 75 off 27 balls, with four boundaries and seven sixes.
Meanwhile, Gurbaz supported with an unbeaten 44 from 23 balls, including three fours and as many sixes, as UP secured a dominant nine-wicket victory with five balls to spare.