Nicholas Pooran proved to be head and shoulders above the rest on Sunday in the 2021 T10 League, as a glitzy knock of 89 off just 26 balls helped his team Northern Warriors shrug aside the Bangla Tigers. The win has put Pooran’s team top of their group after three games, in good stead to make it to the qualifiers.

Batting first of the night, the Northern Warriors lost opener Waseem Muhammad in just the second over. What followed however was complete dominance from the Warriors batsmen, as Pooran and Lendl Simmons stitched together a 122 run partnership. The Kings XI Punjab batsman lit up the Abu Dhabi night sky in a spectacular display of power hitting.

Pooran smashed 12 sixes and three fours in that innings, as he went all guns blazing against the Bangla Tigers bowlers. The 25-year-old showed his intent right from the get go, getting a six over square leg off just his fourth ball. He carried on from that, targeting Qais Ahmed’s first over to get three sixes and a four from that.

Mohammad Irfan was next in line to face the full brunt of Pooran’s carnage, as he was welcomed into the attack with three consecutive sixes, with the second of those almost landing in the car park area. Pooran got his fifty in the next over, getting to the mark off just 16 balls with a straight six over long on.

The eighth over proved to be the most expensive for the fielding side, as a well set Pooran went hell for leather against George Garton. The southpaw hammered four consecutive sixes sandwiched between two fours to amass 32 runs of that over. It was a sensational show of power hitting, as all four of those sixes cleared the boundaries with ease.

Pooran was unfortunate to miss out on creating history by becoming the first player to score a century in T10 cricket, as he was dismissed in the next over, mistiming a full toss outside off-stump to be caught at extra cover. Nevertheless, the damage was done and Pooran walked away to a standing ovation from his teammates, having registered the highest individual score for the 2021 T10 season.

Buoyant by that majestic innings, the Northern Warriors managed to win the game by 30 runs, claiming top spot in their group with three games to go.