You sensed it was coming.
After nine half-centuries across the formats for England - including three in his debut Test series last winter and a 28-ball ODI fifty at Lord's on Thursday - Jacob Bethell finally hit three figures.
Three days after his cameo in the capital, the 21-year-old was the star character in Southampton, cinching a century from 76 balls against South Africa with a four through the covers.
Speaking afterwards, Bethell said: "It's just goosebumps, as soon as I laced it in the gap. It couldn't have hit more in the middle of my bat and it raced [away]. It was a bit of a blur. It was a great feeling, an addictive feeling and hopefully more to come."
Not only was Bethell's riotous 110 from 82 deliveries his first England ton but also his first in professional cricket.
Up to now, he has been a guy of potential - enormous potential - rather than numbers. And his numbers prior to that swashbuckling Lord's fifty had been low.
A knock of one in the ODI series opener followed a duck in his final game for Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred, a tournament in which he averaged 20.33 after totalling 122 runs in eight innings.
Those white-ball toils came after two incredibly scratchy efforts in the final Test against India at The Kia Oval - his second-innings five off 31 balls was particularly ghastly - but they were perhaps to be expected. He had hardly played.
England kept Bethell with the Test group this summer as back-up batter and occasional substitute fielder but he would perhaps have been better served spending time in the middle with county side Warwickshire,
For young cricketers still honing their craft regular reps are crucial, as SportNews' Michael Atherton has said frequently while discussing Bethell's struggles this year.
There are certainly still things for Bethell to polish but his Southampton hundred showed just why England have fast-tracked him into their set-up, despite some suggesting he has been given too much too soon, including the captaincy for the T20I series in Ireland later this month.
"I don't listen to what people say," added Bethell: "[This hundred] was nothing to do with other people - I wanted it for myself and the team."
Yes, he perhaps should have been removed for 44 on Sunday - Nandre Burger suffered a case of butterfingers at mid-on - but around that reprieve the England starlet mixed reverse-sweeps with powerful pulls, classical drives and towering sixes as he amassed 16 boundaries.
There were no signs of the nervous 90s as Bethell went from 91 to 95 with a neat clip off the pads and from 97 to 101 by arrowing Burger away for the moment that induced those goosebumps.
The talent is there and so is the temperament.
England head coach Brendon McCullum told SportNews of Bethell: "As much as he is a flair player on the field and wants to put opposition teams under pressure, he is very well planned off it and has a good head on his shoulders as well as incredible talent.
"He is a great conduit among different age brackets and personalities. We have identified him as someone who is going to be a really strong player and leader for us in the future.
"We know he is not the finished article and there may be times you don't get the output you are after but he has shown he can seriously play at this level. Even versus the best in the world he can step up."
England batter Joe Root, with whom Bethell shared a stand of 182, said: "[Jacob] is wise beyond his years and very clear how he wants to play. He has some wonderful options to take down different bowling types so hopefully he will go from strength to strength, keep entertaining and keep playing match-winning innings."
England quick Jofra Archer, whose 4-18 shredded South Africa for 72, added of Bethell: "He's got the world in front of him. He's still young and he's got more than enough time to do wonders in cricket. There's so much to be excited about and he's only 21.
"I'm not a big stats person but he could go on and have about 40 hundreds in all three formats by the time he retires."
Forty would be quite something. One is a nice start.
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