Abu Dhabi T10 League 2021: Nicholas Pooran's blitz powers Northern Warriors to a huge win

Northern Warriors topped the Group A of the 2021 Abu Dhabi T10 as their skipper Nicholas Pooran powered them to a thumping win over the Bangla Tigers on Sunday. Pooran, who walked to bat in the 2nd over, smashed a record 12 sixes and three fours during his 26-ball 89. He eventually fell to a controversial catch in the 9th over when a century was in sight for him. The Warriors finished with 162/4 and secured a 30-run win as Bangla Tigers finished on 132/3 with their captain Andre Fletcher scoring a 28-ball 53.

Here are the major stats and numbers recorded by Nicholas Pooran and his team during Sunday’s high-scoring match:

5 – Nicholas Pooran now has five fifties in the T10 League; the most by any player in the league history.  Eoin Morgan, Shane Watson, Chris Lynn and Andre Fletcher are second in this list with four fifties.

Pooran has scored 584 runs across the 17 innings he batted in the T10 League; the 2nd most runs by any player behind Fletcher’s tally of 638 runs. Pooran was only a run behind Fletcher when he got dismissed but the Bangla Tigers’ skipper scored 53 runs in the chase to extend his lead.

12 – Number of sixes Pooran struck during his 89-run knock; the most by any player in an innings in the T10 League. Pooran, in fact, is the only player to have hit 10+ sixes in an innings in this league as he smashed exactly 10 sixes during his 25-ball 77 against Punjabi Legends in the 2018 edition. Pooran has hit a total of 60 sixes in T10 League which are the most by any player in this league.

48 – George Garton conceded 48 runs in his two overs which are the joint-most conceded by any player in a T10 League game. Mitchell McClenaghan also gave away 48 runs in the 2018 season playing for the Punjabi Legends against Northern Warriors.

89 – Nicholas Pooran’s 89 is now the 2nd highest individual score in T10 League behind Chris Lynn’s 91* for Maratha Arabians in the 2019 season against Team Abu Dhabi. Lynn, in the same season, also made 89 while playing against Delhi Bulls.

84 – 84 out of the 89 runs by Pooran on Sunday came through the boundaries (12 sixes, 3 fours). These are the 2nd most number of boundary runs in a T10 League innings behind the 78 runs during Chris Lynn’s 91* off 30 also against Team Abu Dhabi in 2019. Lynn hit nine fours and seven sixes during his unbeaten 91 which are the most number of boundary hits (16) in a T10 League innings.

122 – Pooran shared a partnership of 122 runs in just 6.5 overs with Lendl Simmons for the 2nd wicket. This is now the highest stand in the T10 League history for any wicket by surpassing the 113-run 2nd wicket partnership between Paul Stirling and Eoin Morgan for Kerala Kings against Punjabi Legends in 2017.

162/3 – Northern Warriors’ total of 162/4 is only the 2nd 150+ total in the history of T10 League. The Northern Warriors were the first to do so as well when they smashed 183/2 against Punjabi Legends in 2018.

294 – The tally of 294 runs during the match between Warriors and Tigers made this game the highest aggregated match in the history of the T10 League. The previous most number of runs scored in a T10 League game was 273 runs during the 2018 season match between Maratha Arabians and Khulna Tigers.

342.3 – Pooran’s strike rate of 342.3 during the BT vs NW game is the 2nd highest by any player in an innings in the T10 League history having faced 20+ balls. The highest is 350.00 by Jonny Bairstow who smashed an unbeaten 24-ball 84 in the 2018 season game against Bengal Tigers for Kerala Knights.