MI New York captain Nicholas Pooran slammed the fastest century in the Major League Cricket (MLC) history. In the Eliminator clash against Steve Smith’s Washington Freedom at Oakland Coliseum, Pooran reached his fifth T20 century in just 31 balls.
The previous record for the fastest century in MLC history belonged to San Francisco Unicorns’ Finn Allen. The Kiwi batter had faced 34 balls to get to the three figures in MLC 2025 opener against Washington Freedom. Unicorns posted 269/5 as Allen hit 19 sixes in his 51-ball 151.
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Pooran hit the joint fifth-fastest century in T20 history. It is also the second-fastest T20 century by a West Indies batter. The top spot belongs to Chris Gayle with a 30-ball century for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against now-defunct Pune Warriors India in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013.
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Pooran’s 2 hat-trick of sixes in record-breaking 100
In the eliminator, Pooran walked out to bat in the second over as opener Monank Patel was run out by Ian Holland's direct hit. Pooran targeted Glenn Maxwell, hitting him for three consecutive sixes and a four. On the other end, Quinton de Kock was going all guns blazing as well. In the fifth over, Pooran hit Saurabh Netravalkar for four sixes and a four to reach his fifty from just 14 deliveries. At the end of powerplay overs, MI New York were 100/1.
Pooran continued to wreak havoc. On the other end, De Kock reached his half-century from 22 deliveries in the eighth over. He was dismissed bowled by Mitchell Owen in the next over. In the 10th over, Pooran's catch was dropped by Holland at extra cover off Nikhil Chaudhary's bowling. Kieron Pollard went on a six-hitting spree as well. On the second ball of the 12th over, Pooran got to his century from 31 balls.
Pooran hit Chaudhary for two fours and a six before falling to him. He went for the slog-sweep but got caught by Maxwell at long-on. His knock of 33-ball 106 was laced with 13 sixes and five fours. MI New York were 183/3 in 11.4 overs when he departed.
Pollard continued the carnage with a 25-ball 64 including eight sixes. But, MI New York lost six wickets for 16 runs. Rachin Ravindra picked up a four-wicket haul, conceding just 29 runs from four overs. Trent Boult's unbeaten 10-ball 22 took MI New York to 266/9.
11,000 runs for Pooran
Pooran completed 11,000 runs in T20s in his 468th game. He is the third batter after Gayle and Pollard to achieve the feat.