Nicholas Pooran Hits 36 Runs in One Over
3 min read
At the Daren Sammy Stadium in Gros Islet, during a T20 World Cup Group C match versus Afghanistan, West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran made history by scoring 36 runs in one over. In T20 cricket history, this was only the sixth time that 36 runs have been scored in one over. Five wides, four leg byes, and a no-ball delivered by Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai in the fourth over of the West Indies innings all went towards helping Pooran, who amassed 26 runs at bat.
Omarzai started the over with a full and wide delivery, which Pooran somehow managed to hit for a six over the third man. The right-arm pacer overstepped in the next ball, which was hit for four. Omarzai’s over went from bad to worse when his next ball went for five wides. It was an attempted bouncer that flew over the keeper’s head. There was no respite for Omarzai as the free-hit stayed. Pooran, however, failed to capitalise on it.
Afghanistan’s luck did not hold as the third valid ball of the over beat the keeper and clipped Pooran’s pads, leading to four leg byes.
In the final three balls of the over, Pooran hit Omarzai for two sixes and a four, adding to the suffering of the Afghans and making his place in history.
After Karim Janat, Omarzai was the second bowler from Afghanistan to give up 36 runs in an over during a Twenty20 International. Earlier this year, India’s Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh smacked Janat for 36 runs.
Most runs in an over in T20Is
- 36 – Yuvraj Singh (IND) vs Stuart Broad (ENG), Durban, 2007
- 36 – Kieron Pollard (WI) vs Akila Dananjaya (SL), Coolidge, 2021
- 36 – Rohit Sharma & Rinku Singh (IND) vs Karim Janat (AFG), Bengaluru, 2024
- 36 – Dipendra Singh Airee (NEP) vs Kamran Khan (QAT), Al Amerat, 2024
- 36 – Nicholas Pooran & Johnson Charles (WI) vs Azmatullah Omarzai (AFG), St. Lucia, 2024
One additional run was included in Karim Janat’s over, whilst Omarzai’s over had ten extras (five wides, one no-ball, and four leg-byes).
The assault from the West Indies didn’t stop there. West Indies shot to 92/1, the greatest powerplay total in T20 World Cup history, after reaching 50 in 3.2 overs. The Netherlands’ record, which they had set against Ireland in Sylhet during the 2014 T20 World Cup, was shattered by Pooran and Charles.
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Pooran’s mastery of dominance did not stop there. In the 18th over, he hit Rashid Khan for 24 runs, breaking Chris Gayle’s record for the most sixes by a West Indies hitter in Twenty20 Internationals. Currently, Pooran has 128 T20I sixes against Gayle’s 124.
In the men’s T20 league, Pooran also became just the sixth hitter to hit 500 or more sixes. He finished with 98 from 53 balls after hitting eight sixes and six fours. He was just short of reaching a well-earned century due to a run out. But in their 20 overs, the West Indies finished with a thumping 218/5. In addition to Pooran, Shai Hope (25 off 17), Charles (43 off 27), and captain Rovman Powell (26 off 15) also contributed nicely with the match.
