In the Caribbean Premier League on Friday (September 27), Nicholas Pooran went past Mohammad Rizwan to set a new world record for the most men's T20 runs scored in a calendar year.
Playing for Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) against Barbados Royals, Pooran was brought to the crease in the very first over of the match after Jason Roy was bowled by Maheesh Theekshana. Off his very first delivery, he got an outside edge for four, taking him level with Mohammad Rizwan for the most men's T20 runs in a calendar year.
Pooran tapped the next ball for a single to set a new record, before going on to score 27 off 15 balls in the match, with four fours and one six. TKR eventually scored 175-7 in their 20 overs.
Read more: David Miller reaches 500: Full list of most men's T20 career appearances
Earlier in the tournament, Pooran broke Chris Gayle's world record of 135 for the most T20 sixes hit in a calendar year. A few days ago, he became the first player ever to cross the mark of 150 sixes. During the course of his unbeaten 93 against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on September 22, he also became just the second player after Rizwan to score 2000 T20 runs in a calendar year.
TKR have one more league stage match left this season, and could qualify for the CPL playoffs, giving Pooran a chance to extend his lead at the top now. He will also likely be part of West Indies' T20I squads to play against Sri Lanka in October, England in November and Bangladesh in December.
Also read: How could Australia replace Cameron Green for the Border-Gavaskar series?
Full list: Top run-scorers in a calendar year in men's T20 cricket
With the amount of T20 cricket Pooran has played across the world this year, it is not all that surprising that he has broken the record. In fact, out of the top 15 run-scorers in a calendar year, he has played more matches than any of them (65). The only other batter on the list with over 60 matches is Alex Hales, in 2022.
Where he stands out is with his strike rate, though. Before this year, only Chris Gayle (in 2015) and Suryakumar Yadav (in 2022) had managed to score over 1500 runs in a calendar year at a strike rate in excess of 160. There is still time for this to change, but for the moment Pooran is the third to do so.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
