Nicholas Pooran dethrones Chris Gayle to topple the West Indies legend in this T20I record

West Indies explosive batsman Nicholas Pooran has dethroned the Universe Boss Chris Gayle in an elite T20I list while playing in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Nicholas Pooran, who has been a former captain of the West Indies, achieved the record during his team's T20 World Cup Group game against New Zealand. The co-hosts, who were drawn into Group C along with the Kiwis, Afghanistan, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea, have become the first team from their Group to reach the Super 8s.

West Indies were playing their 2nd last game of the Group stages at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Trinidad against Kane Williamson's Kiwis. Rovman Powell's side had batter first and would set up a total of 149 as the target. In response, New Zealand failed to get over their lean patch and lost yet another match.

The Blackcaps were able to score as many as 136 runs lost the encounter by 13 runs and became the first from their group to reach the Super 8s. Nicholas Pooran, who achieved a massive record in the match, scored 17 off 12 with Sherfane Rutherford becoming the man of the match for his 68 off 39 which saved the day for West Indies.

Nicholas Pooran becomes West Indies' highest run-scorer in T20 Internationals

With his 17 off 12 at a 140+ strike rate, Nicholas Pooran dethroned legendary Chris Gayle to become the highest run-scorer in T20Is for the Windies. This is an incredible feat to achieve, given the fact that Pooran actually took down the Universe Boss, that too, in a home T20I World Cup edition.

At the time of his retirement, Chris Gayle's 1899 runs from 79 matches with a best score of 117. Gayle had a very good chance of becoming the first player from the Windies Island to score 1900 T20I runs but he fell short of just a run. Nicholas Pooran, on the other hand, not only toppled Gayle in the highest run-scoring list but also became the first player to score 1900 runs.

Nicholas Pooran is now far ahead of any other batter in this list with all of the previous highest scorers - Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, and Simmons all retired. Pooran also chose a very good match to become a modern-day legend of West Indies cricket. His team earned qualification to the next round of the home T20I World Cup.

They now have a very good chance of becoming the first side in the tournament's history to have won 3 titles. West Indies are currently the joint-most successful with team England who have 2 titles each. The co-hosts are also certain to finish on top of their Group and they will be facing an in-form Afghanistan team in the final group match.

West Indies' top 5 highest scorers in T20Is