Northants: David Willey innings 'on different planet'
Last updated on .From the section Cricket
Northants captain Alex Wakely described David Willey's 40-ball century at Sussex in the T20 Blast quarter-finals as "the best T20 innings I've seen".
The England one-day all-rounder hit 34 off one Michael Yardy over to help Northants qualify for Finals Day.
"Everyone else seemed to struggle and he was just on a different planet," Wakely told BBC Radio Northampton.
"That is why T20 is so exciting, it's brilliant for the fans because anything can happen on any given day."
Willey, who had earlier taken 3-27 with the ball, inspired the 2013 T20 Blast champions to their target of 166 with four overs to spare. He was out the next ball after reaching his century.
The 25-year-old is a hopeful for England's one-day matches against Australia, having recently recovered from ankle ligament damage.
"It's the best innings I've ever seen in T20 cricket quite comfortably," added Wakely. "The fact it was chasing in the quarter-final under pressure.
| How Willey's innings compares | |
|---|---|
| Willey's century was the joint-seventh fastest in T20 cricket | Willey's century was the third fastest in T20 cricket in England |
| Chris Gayle hit the format's fastest ton off 30 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore v Pune Warriors in 2013 | It is fastest this summer, beating Brendon McCullum's 42-ball ton for Birmingham v Derbyshire |
"You see a lot of people hit three or four sixes and get out - the fact he went on to score a hundred you don't see that every day.
"You talk about some guys like Chris Gayle - (Sussex captain) Luke Wright played against him this season and said it was a cleaner strike than Gayle."
Wakely also said he was pleased with the style of the victory, especially given the speculation over the club's finances and future.
"There's been a lot of bad press around the club at the moment - it's just an amazing feeling (to win)," he said.
"We said that all we could do was concentrate on the cricket - to get to Finals Day again is such a great feeling.
"The fact we did it with such style, we won the T20 in 2013 by playing almost the perfect game, and we've done it again here in the quarter-final. It's probably the most complete performance from us this season."
