Notts Outlaws smash record for highest powerplay score in Twenty20 cricket

The Notts Outlaws squared off against the Durham Jets in the Natwest T20 Blast at Trent Bridge yesterday (August 5) and a series of records tumbled during the match.

Durham posted a total of 183-7 in the first innings. What followed was a carnage from the Notts, and from Alex Hales in particular.

The English opener went berserk from the very beginning of the innings and powered his team to comprehensive 6-wicket victory in just 13.5 overs. The scoreboard read 106-0 at the end of the powerplay overs.

As a result, the Notts now boast of the record for the highest powerplay score in Twenty20 history. They bettered the 105-0 that was posted by the Kolkata Knight Riders against the Royal Challengers Bangalore earlier this year in the Indian Premier League.

In his swashbuckling innings of 95 runs in just 30 deliveries, Hales smashed the Durham bowlers for nine fours and nine massive sixes. He missed out on the record for the fastest T20 century by a whisker, as he fell to James Weighell in the eighth over of the innings.

Talking about the knock in his post match interview, Hales said, “I knew there was a chance to go for the quickest T20 century of all-time and you don’t get those opportunities very often. I love batting at Trent Bridge, for me it is utter paradise, the wickets are great and there are some short boundaries, so I knew there was a chance of doing it."

The fifth, sixth and seventh overs of the innings went for 25, 28 and 20 runs respectively. The right-handed batsman spanked six fours and six sixes in 12 of the 18 deliveries in these overs.

Riki Wessels and Hales put up 126 runs for the first wicket

While Hales was going bonkers at the other end, his opening partner played a relatively guarded innings. Riki Wessels scored a 41 off 34 deliveries that comprised of four fours and two sixes, and the pair put up a humongous total of 126 in 7.1 overs before Hales was finally dismissed.

"It’s a special feeling to play here and to get so many in the powerplay overs with Riki. As a team we’ve got real momentum at the moment and hopefully we can keep it going,” Hales added.

Hales is the leading run-scorer in the tournament right now and has 445 runs in just 10 innings. His strike-rate is has touched an unreal number of over 212.