Former West Indies cricketer Kieron Pollard has etched his name into the history books as he shattered Chris Gayle’s world record for most runs in T20 cricket. Pollard achieved the feat during MI New York’s Major League Cricket 2026 clash against the Washington Freedom on Saturday, June 20, during his unbeaten hundred.
Coming into New York’s first game of the season, Pollard needed 81 runs to go past his former West Indian teammate. The fast-bowling all-rounder, who has also retired from the IPL, achieved the milestone when he made 100* from 56 balls. Pollard tried his best in the mammoth chase of 246; however, the target was way too big and as New York kept losing wickets, Pollard alone could not bail them out as Nicholas Pooran’s side lost by 30 runs in the end.
Even though his knock went in vain, Pollard went on to break the long-standing record of Gayle for the most runs in the format. Gayle, the Universe Boss, held this record for 12 years since the T20 World Cup 2026, an uninterrupted spell that saw him reign at the top of the scorers sheet for 4463 days. The next biggest single run in the list belongs to Brad Hodge, who was the T20 top-scorer for 1,259 days from January 2007 to June 2010.ย
Most runs in T20 cricket:
1 – Kieron Pollard: 14582 runs in 736 matches
2 – Chris Gayle: 14562 runs in 463 matches
3 – Alex Hales: 14449 runs in 528 matches
4 – Jos Buttler: 14371 runs in 510 matches
5 – David Warner: 14284 runs in 439 matches
Mitch Owen creates MLC history
In the same match, Australian batter Mitch Own tasted a piece of history as well. The Tasmanian smashed a jaw-dropping 155 from 68 balls with 13 sixes in a six-hitting frenzy. This is now the highest individual score in the MLC history. Owen’s carnage saw Freedom post 245/5, the third-highest total of the league of all time. Owen was dismissed when 19 balls were left to be bowled in the innings. One could have thought how much more the hard-hitting batter could have achieved had he been there for the entirety of the overs.
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