Nicholas Pooran broke a heap of records with his 53-ball 98 on Tuesday. (AP)
Nicholas Pooran was at his belligerent best as he demolished a vaunted Afghanistan bowling attack in their final group C game of the T20 World Cup at the Daren Sammy National Stadium in St Lucia on Tuesday.
Walking in at number three after Afghanistan elected to field, Pooran paced out a splendid innings before agonisingly missing out on his maiden T20I hundred, falling run-out on 98. Pooran carted six fours and eight maximums as West Indies recorded the tournament’s highest score in the final group-stage match. A resounding 104-run win also marked the second instance of a 100-plus run win for the West Indies this edition.
Pooran and West Indies recorded a slew of records before they head into the Super 8s.
Surpassing Chris Gayle
Pooran broke a significant record when he surpassed Chris Gayle as the highest six-hitter for the West Indies. While Gayle had amassed 124 sixes in 75 innings, Pooran matched the feat in his 84th innings before raising the tally to 128. Having debuted in 2016, Pooran is fifth on the all-time list, headed by India captain Rohit Sharma with 194 sixes.
Entering club 500
Pooran (502*) also became the sixth batter in all men’s T20s to reach the landmark of 500 sixes. He joined Gayle (1056), Kieron Pollard (860), Andre Russell (686), Colin Munro (548) and Rohit (514) in the exclusive club. Interestingly, Pollard, Russell and Pooran have hit more sixes than fours in their respective T20 careers.
West Indies record joint-most runs in an over
Pooran and West Indies totalled 36 runs in an over from Azamatullah Omarzai during the innings, the joint-most expensive over in T20 World Cup history – alongside the 36 conceded by Stuart Broad against Yuvraj Singh in 2007. It is also only the fifth-such instance in all men’s T20Is and the second involving West Indies.
36 – Yuvraj Singh (India) vs Stuart Broad (Englamd), Durban, 2007
36 – Kieron Pollard (West Indies) vs Akila Dananjaya (Sri Lanka), Coolidge, 2021
36 – Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh (India) vs Karim Janat (Afghanistan), Bengaluru, 2024
36 – Dipendra Singh Airee (Nepal) vs Kamran Khan (Qatar), Al Amerat, 2024
36 – Nicholas Pooran and Johnson Charles (West Indies) vs Azmatullah Omarzai (Afghanistan), St. Lucia, 2024
West Indies smash Powerplay record
The Windies totalled 92 for one in the Powerplay against Afghanistan, eclipsing the Netherlands 91/1 from 2014 against Ireland for the highest Powerplay score in a T20 World Cup match.
West Indies’ best winning streak
With four wins from as many games, West Indies have recorded their best winning streak in a men’s T20 World Cup. They have also won eight T20Is on the trot in 2024, their best streak in T20Is since the 2012-13 season.
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