Follow UsEngland batter Jacob Bethell has smashed his first hundred, not just in One-Day Internationals (ODI) but also in professional cricket, in the third match of the series against South Africa on September 7 (Sunday) in Southampton.
Bethell got to his landmark off just 76 deliveries, thereby becoming the youngest England player to score a century after David Gower and has bettered Alastair Cook's record in the process. Incidentally, Cook's feat also came in Southampton in 2007.
Youngest England batter to score a century in ODIs
David Gower 21y 55d vs Pakistan, The Oval, 1978
David Gower 21y 209d vs Australia, Melbourne, 1979
Jacob Bethell 21y 319d vs South Africa, Southampton, 2025
Craig Kieswetter 22y 97d vs Bangladesh, Chattogram, 2010
Alastair Cook 22y 239d vs India, Southampton, 2007
Bethell scored 58 off 40 deliveries in the previous game, but England lost the game at Lord's by five runs, in pursuit of 331. With that loss, they had lost the series as well to with with their seven-wicket defeat in the first game in Leeds. The youngster also put on 182 off 144 for the third wicket with Joe Root to put England in a commanding position.
Bethell, who made his ODI debut in September 2024, had scored four fifties before this knock, but has finally converted his fifth 50-plus score into a century, much to England's relief.