Until February 20, 2016, the record for the fastest Test match hundred was held, jointly, by West Indian Sir Vivian Richards and Pakistani Misbah-ul-Haq. Richards needed just 56 balls to reach three figures in the fifth and final Test of the England tour of West Indies at the Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John’s in April, 1986, and hs feat was matched by Misbah in the second innings of the second Test of the Australia tour of the United Arab Emirates at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi in November, 2014.
However, on February 20, 2016, in his farewell Test match, after 100 consecutive previous appearances for the Black Cats, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum picked an appropriate occasion to claim the record for the fastest Test century as his own. In the first innings of the second Test of the Australia tour of New Zealand at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, needed just 54 balls to reach three figures, including 16 fours and four sixes.
For the record, McCullum brought up his hundred in 79 minutes, or five minutes longer than Misbah, who, in turn, took four minutes longer than Australian Jack Gregory, who made a rapid-fire century in 70 minutes, albeit off 67 balls, in the first innings of the second Test of the Australia tour of South Africa at Old Wanderers, Johannesburg on November 12, 1921. Over a century later (no pun intended), Gregory still holds the record for the fastest Test hundred, in terms of minutes taken.