Nicholas Pooran recently played a storming innings against Washington Freedom in the Eliminator match of Major League Cricket 2026, scoring the fastest half-century and century in the history of Major League Cricket.
The previous record was set by Finn Allen in MLC, where he scored a 34-ball century, which also came against Washington Freedom in 2025. Let’s take a look at the top five fastest centuries ever made in MLC history:
- Nicholas Pooran – 31 balls vs Washington Freedom – 2026*
- Finn Allen – 34 balls vs Washington Freedom – 2025
- Nicholas Pooran – 40 balls vs Seattle Orcas – 2023
- Heinrich Klaasen – 41 balls vs MI New York – 2023
- Faf du Plessis – 45 balls vs Seattle Orcas – 2026
Nicholas Pooran also reached another milestone by recording the fastest fifty ever made in the MLC, scoring his 50 runs in just 14 deliveries. The top five batters who etched this record after Pooran are:
- Nicholas Pooran – 14 balls vs Washington Freedom – 2026*
- Rovman Powell – 15 balls vs San Francisco Unicorns – 2026
- Nicholas Pooran – 16 balls vs Seattle Orcas – 2023
- Lhuan-Dre Pretorius – 16 balls vs Washington Freedom – 2026
- Shimron Hetmyer – 18 balls vs Los Angeles Knight Riders – 2025
How Nicholas Pooran Reached the Historic Inning?
MI New York lost the early wicket of opener Monank Patel in the 2nd over, but Nicholas Pooran continued his attacking approach even after the early dismissal of his partner Patel, not allowing the Washington Freedom bowlers to settle at any phase of the innings.
He kept scoring boundaries regularly and punished every loose delivery, taking MI New York closer to a massive total. Pooran lost his wicket in the 13th over after scoring a sensational 106 runs in just 33 balls; his innings included 5 fours and 13 sixes.
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By the time he walked back to the pavilion, he had already registered the fastest fifty and the fastest hundred in Major League Cricket history, also recording the fastest hundred in Major League Cricket, putting his team in complete control of the match. His innings laid the perfect foundation for a giant total of 266/7 in 20 overs.
His 103 knock also helped him to register his name in the top seven list of the fastest hundreds in the T20 Format in history:
- Sahil Chauhan – 27 balls – Estonia vs Cyprus (2024)
- Urvil Patel – 28 balls – Gujarat vs Tripura (2024)
- Abhishek Sharma – 28 balls – Punjab vs Meghalaya (2024)
- Muhammad Fahad – 29 balls – Turkey vs Bulgaria (2025)
- Cris Gayle – 30 balls – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Pune Warriors (2013)
- Urvil Patel – 31 balls – Gujarat vs Services (2025)
- Nicholas Pooran – 31 balls – MI New York vs Washington Freedom (2026)
ALSO READ: Washington Freedom Break Punjab Kings’ Record With Historic T20 Run Chase
