ICC T20 World Cup 2024: Nicholas Pooran smacks Azmatullah Omarzai for 36 runs in one over

West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran set the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 ablaze when he smacked 36 runs in one over against Afghanistan in their group stage match at the Darren Sammy Stadium in Gros Islet.

This is the fifth instance of 36 runs being scored in one over in T2o internationals. Pooran took Azmatullah Omarzai to the cleaners as the bowler conceded 41 runs in his two overs.

The 36-run over came as a breath of fresh air after a string of low scoring totals, especially in the USA leg of the World Cup. Riding on Pooran’s magic (98 runs, 53 balls, 6 fours, 8 sixes), West Indies scored a massive 218/5 in their 20 overs and restricted Afghanistan to just 114, to win by 104 runs.

During the course of his 98, Pooran also became West Indies’ most T20I six-hitter. He now has 128 sixes and overtook Chris Gayle, who held the record with 124 sixes against his name.

Pooran’s 36-run over reminisced Indian batter Yuvraj Singh’s assault on England’s Stuart Broad in the first edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007. Yuvraj smacked Broad for six sixes, but Pooran’s 36-run assault had three sixes, two fours, four leg byes, five no-balls, five wides and a dot ball.

Apart from Yuvraj Singh, only West Indies’ Keiron Pollard (against Sri Lanka’s Akila Dhananjaya in 2021) and Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee (against Qatar’s Kamran Khan in 2024) have managed to hit six sixes in an over in T20 international cricket.

Most runs in an over in T20Is (36 runs)

Yuvraj Singh (IND) against Stuart Broad (ENG) at Durban in 2007

Kieron Pollard (WI) against Akila Dananjaya (SL) at Coolidge in 2021

Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh (IND) against Karim Janat (AFG) at Bengaluru in 2024

Dipendra Singh Airee (NEP) against Kamran Khan (QAT) at Al Amerat in 2024

Nicholas Pooran (WI) against Azmatullah Omarzai (AFG) at St. Lucia in 2024