West Indies vs South Africa: Nicholas Pooran played a match-winning knock in the first T20I at the Brian Lara Stadium and also climbed in the list of most sixes.

Nicholas Pooran climbed to third in the list of most sixes in T20Is after his stupendous knock in the opening T20I between West Indies and South Africa. On Friday, August 23, Pooran won the Player of the Match award after he scored 65 runs off 26 balls, laced with two fours and seven sixes, at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad.

Prior to the game, Pooran was seventh in the list. After his heroic effort, he went past the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Suryakumar Yadav and Jos Buttler. Only New Zealand’s Martin Guptill (173) and India’s Rohit Sharma (205) are ahead of him. On the back of Pooran’s knock, West Indies beat South Africa by seven wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Most sixes in T20Is

Rohit Sharma – 205 sixes in 159 T20Is

Martin Guptill – 173 sixes from 122 T20Is

Nicholas Pooran – 139 sixes from 96 T20Is

Jos Buttler – 137 sixes from 124 T20Is

Suryakumar Yadav – 136 sixes from 71 T20Is

Nicholas Pooran shows his power

After being asked to chase down a challenging target of 175, West Indies romped home with 13 balls left in their innings. Pooran came to bat after their openers Alick Athanaze and Shai Hope laid the platform with a partnership of 84 runs for the opening wicket.

Although Rovman Powell struggled to get going with a knock of seven off 15 balls, it didn’t impact the innings as Pooran was in a zone of his own.

Back in the T20 World Cup at home earlier this year, Pooran also became the first batter from the West Indies to scored 2000 runs in the Men’s T20Is.

The second T20I is scheduled to take place on Sunday, August 25 and the hosts will be looking to claim the series with another win.