ESPNcricinfo Awards 2024: Men's T20 leagues batting nominees: Towhid tees off, Jos bosses it, Stoinis strikes
Big hitters that made bigger impacts in their games
ESPNcricinfo staff
26-Jan-2025
Josh Brown hit 12 sixes in his 140 in the BBL • Getty Images
Josh Brown
140 vs Adelaide Strikers
BBL Challenger, Carrara
Brown made the second-fastest hundred in BBL history to take Brisbane Heat to the final (and eventually their first title in over a decade) after they got a second bite at the knockout cherry in the Challenger game. Brown's was an extraordinary one-man effort: he came out of the blocks swinging for the hills on a two-paced surface, and by the time he was out in the 17th over, Heat were on 192 off 99 balls. At the end of the innings, the next highest score in the Heat innings was Nathan McSweeney's 33; the rest were all in single digits. Strikers' in-form leggies, Cameron Boyce and Lloyd Pope, came in for some tap, taken for 55 runs off 18 balls. Brown had one fifty from 21 previous BBL innings; he changed that script, and how.
140 vs Adelaide Strikers
BBL Challenger, Carrara
Brown made the second-fastest hundred in BBL history to take Brisbane Heat to the final (and eventually their first title in over a decade) after they got a second bite at the knockout cherry in the Challenger game. Brown's was an extraordinary one-man effort: he came out of the blocks swinging for the hills on a two-paced surface, and by the time he was out in the 17th over, Heat were on 192 off 99 balls. At the end of the innings, the next highest score in the Heat innings was Nathan McSweeney's 33; the rest were all in single digits. Strikers' in-form leggies, Cameron Boyce and Lloyd Pope, came in for some tap, taken for 55 runs off 18 balls. Brown had one fifty from 21 previous BBL innings; he changed that script, and how.
Will Jacks
101 vs Durban's Super Giants
SA20, Centurion
Pretoria Capitals had two losses from their first two games of the season before Jacks, who made 58 off 34 in the defeat against Paarl Royals in the last game, turned it around with a 41-ball hundred in this match. Eight Capitals batters made a top score of 11 between them; Colin Ingram chipped in with an important 43; and opener Phil Salt made 23 in a stand of 75. The rest was all Jacks, who hit 86 of his 101 runs in boundaries. It all came against a tight Super Giants attack featuring Keshav Maharaj, Marcus Stoinis, Reece Topley and Dwaine Pretorius. Jacks got going in the third over, clubbing Topley for back-to-back sixes, took 15 and 17 off the next two overs, hacked Maharaj for three sixes off consecutive balls in the ninth, and belted Pretorius over long-on to bring up his hundred.
101 vs Durban's Super Giants
SA20, Centurion
Pretoria Capitals had two losses from their first two games of the season before Jacks, who made 58 off 34 in the defeat against Paarl Royals in the last game, turned it around with a 41-ball hundred in this match. Eight Capitals batters made a top score of 11 between them; Colin Ingram chipped in with an important 43; and opener Phil Salt made 23 in a stand of 75. The rest was all Jacks, who hit 86 of his 101 runs in boundaries. It all came against a tight Super Giants attack featuring Keshav Maharaj, Marcus Stoinis, Reece Topley and Dwaine Pretorius. Jacks got going in the third over, clubbing Topley for back-to-back sixes, took 15 and 17 off the next two overs, hacked Maharaj for three sixes off consecutive balls in the ninth, and belted Pretorius over long-on to bring up his hundred.
Towhid Hridoy
108 not out vs Durdanto Dhaka
BPL, Mirpur
Defending champions Comilla Victorians were 23 for 3, having lost their best batters, Will Jacks, Litton Das and Imrul Kayes, chasing 176, when Hridoy stepped up to be counted. At the end of the 14th over, when they needed 68 off 36, Hridoy put his foot on the gas, taking 53 runs off the next 18 balls he faced, mostly hitting through the leg side, scoring almost at will. He made the lion's share in a stand of 84 with Brooke Guest - they were the only two Victorians batters to score over 9 - and eventually took his side home with a ball to spare. Hridoy's hundred was the first of the 2024-25 BPL, and one of only three in the season.
108 not out vs Durdanto Dhaka
BPL, Mirpur
Defending champions Comilla Victorians were 23 for 3, having lost their best batters, Will Jacks, Litton Das and Imrul Kayes, chasing 176, when Hridoy stepped up to be counted. At the end of the 14th over, when they needed 68 off 36, Hridoy put his foot on the gas, taking 53 runs off the next 18 balls he faced, mostly hitting through the leg side, scoring almost at will. He made the lion's share in a stand of 84 with Brooke Guest - they were the only two Victorians batters to score over 9 - and eventually took his side home with a ball to spare. Hridoy's hundred was the first of the 2024-25 BPL, and one of only three in the season.
Jos Buttler
107 not out vs Kolkata Knight Riders
IPL, Kolkata
After a Sunil Narine special had taken Knight Riders to a hefty 223, Royals needed some fireworks of their own. Buttler provided them, while also anchoring the chase to remain unbeaten at the end. It looked less than promising at the start, where he seemed becalmed with 25 off his first 18 balls. And when Royals were six down in the 13th over with over a hundred to get, the target looked a bridge too far, but Buttler, who had put on 50 with Riyan Parag by then, stepped it up a gear, even as he lost partners at the other end. He knuckled down for another fifty partnership, with Rovman Powell, and then put on 38 with Avesh Khan (whose contribution to the stand was zero runs). Buttler completed his second hundred of the season and got Royals across the line off the last ball.
107 not out vs Kolkata Knight Riders
IPL, Kolkata
After a Sunil Narine special had taken Knight Riders to a hefty 223, Royals needed some fireworks of their own. Buttler provided them, while also anchoring the chase to remain unbeaten at the end. It looked less than promising at the start, where he seemed becalmed with 25 off his first 18 balls. And when Royals were six down in the 13th over with over a hundred to get, the target looked a bridge too far, but Buttler, who had put on 50 with Riyan Parag by then, stepped it up a gear, even as he lost partners at the other end. He knuckled down for another fifty partnership, with Rovman Powell, and then put on 38 with Avesh Khan (whose contribution to the stand was zero runs). Buttler completed his second hundred of the season and got Royals across the line off the last ball.
Marcus Stoinis
124 not out vs Chennai Super Kings
IPL, Chennai
Another steep chase made to look like it was no sweat. Stoinis' hundred was more of a solo than Rituraj Gaikwad's century in CSK's innings, where Shivam Dube chipped in with 66. Here, the next highest score was 34, by Nicholas Pooran, who put on 70 with Stoinis in under six overs after Lucknow Super Giants got to only 83 halfway into their innings. Stoinis started as he meant to go on, keeping the tempo brisk, cutting and driving liberally and nudging past third; just eight of his runs came behind square on the leg side. He sealed it with 18 runs off the first three balls of the 20th over, making the ground fall silent as CSK were handed their first home defeat of the season, after having also been beaten by LSG four days before in Lucknow.
124 not out vs Chennai Super Kings
IPL, Chennai
Another steep chase made to look like it was no sweat. Stoinis' hundred was more of a solo than Rituraj Gaikwad's century in CSK's innings, where Shivam Dube chipped in with 66. Here, the next highest score was 34, by Nicholas Pooran, who put on 70 with Stoinis in under six overs after Lucknow Super Giants got to only 83 halfway into their innings. Stoinis started as he meant to go on, keeping the tempo brisk, cutting and driving liberally and nudging past third; just eight of his runs came behind square on the leg side. He sealed it with 18 runs off the first three balls of the 20th over, making the ground fall silent as CSK were handed their first home defeat of the season, after having also been beaten by LSG four days before in Lucknow.
Suryakumar Yadav
102 not out vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
IPL, Mumbai
This win was a rare bright spot in a dismal season for Mumbai Indians, who had lost eight of their 11 games till this point. The target wasn't as imposing as some of the other scores Sunrisers made through the season, but though Sunrisers' quick bowlers made it heavy going for Mumbai early in the chase, extracting healthy movement off the pitch and in the air, Suryakumar didn't hold back, playing true to his 360-degree template. He made more than three runs per ball off his trademark shots behind the wicket, using the pace of Sunrisers' fast bowlers against them, and finished with 102 in an unbeaten partnership of 143 with Tilak Verma, no mean practitioner of attacking batsmanship himself. Mumbai Indians won with room to spare.
102 not out vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
IPL, Mumbai
This win was a rare bright spot in a dismal season for Mumbai Indians, who had lost eight of their 11 games till this point. The target wasn't as imposing as some of the other scores Sunrisers made through the season, but though Sunrisers' quick bowlers made it heavy going for Mumbai early in the chase, extracting healthy movement off the pitch and in the air, Suryakumar didn't hold back, playing true to his 360-degree template. He made more than three runs per ball off his trademark shots behind the wicket, using the pace of Sunrisers' fast bowlers against them, and finished with 102 in an unbeaten partnership of 143 with Tilak Verma, no mean practitioner of attacking batsmanship himself. Mumbai Indians won with room to spare.
Rilee Rossouw
108 not out vs Colombo Strikers
LPL, Dambulla
LPL powerhouse Jaffna began their chase of a sizeable 189 relatively slowly - not least because they lost two wickets inside five overs. From there it was Rossouw's game: though it took Jaffna a long time to catch up with the over rate, he piloted the chase expertly, putting on an unbeaten 120 with Avishka Fernando off 64 balls to take his side over the line with an over to spare. Rossouw, who finished as the season's second-highest run-scorer, creamed four sixes backward of square leg, two of them off Taskin Ahmed, who he also hit for a maximum over midwicket. Eight of the Colombo Strikers players bowled, but Rossouw had answers for all of them as he motored relentlessly to the fastest century (44 balls) in LPL history.
108 not out vs Colombo Strikers
LPL, Dambulla
LPL powerhouse Jaffna began their chase of a sizeable 189 relatively slowly - not least because they lost two wickets inside five overs. From there it was Rossouw's game: though it took Jaffna a long time to catch up with the over rate, he piloted the chase expertly, putting on an unbeaten 120 with Avishka Fernando off 64 balls to take his side over the line with an over to spare. Rossouw, who finished as the season's second-highest run-scorer, creamed four sixes backward of square leg, two of them off Taskin Ahmed, who he also hit for a maximum over midwicket. Eight of the Colombo Strikers players bowled, but Rossouw had answers for all of them as he motored relentlessly to the fastest century (44 balls) in LPL history.
Finn Allen
101 vs Texas Super Kings
MLC Challenger, Dallas
San Francisco Unicorns rode Allen's blitzkrieg innings to ace their second shot at making the MLC final, setting a total Super Kings fell ten runs short of. Allen, who had 192 runs from his first seven matches of the season at a strike rate just under 200, took the lead in both sizeable partnerships he was involved in (79 with Jake Fraser-McGurk, and 70 with Josh Inglis after two wickets fell in the eighth over). Opening bowlers Zia ul-Haq and Marcus Stoinis bore the brunt, leaking 62 runs off their 26 deliveries to Allen. His fifty came up in 26 balls off a misfield at backward point but his hundred was off a glorious six that sailed clean over long-off.
101 vs Texas Super Kings
MLC Challenger, Dallas
San Francisco Unicorns rode Allen's blitzkrieg innings to ace their second shot at making the MLC final, setting a total Super Kings fell ten runs short of. Allen, who had 192 runs from his first seven matches of the season at a strike rate just under 200, took the lead in both sizeable partnerships he was involved in (79 with Jake Fraser-McGurk, and 70 with Josh Inglis after two wickets fell in the eighth over). Opening bowlers Zia ul-Haq and Marcus Stoinis bore the brunt, leaking 62 runs off their 26 deliveries to Allen. His fifty came up in 26 balls off a misfield at backward point but his hundred was off a glorious six that sailed clean over long-off.
Nicholas Pooran
66 not out vs Manchester Originals
The Hundred, Manchester
Pooran has made well over 3000 T20 runs at a strike rate of 160 in the world's top T20 leagues over the last two years - and that included the Hundred, where he made his first appearance in 2024. He made 60s in their first two wins, had a blip of three games, and came back to the party with this innings, which took Northern Superchargers to a win after they were effectively 29 for 3 chasing 153. Uncharacteristically, Pooran took eight balls to score his first run on a belter, but he made up with sixes in each of the next three fives, while Harry Brook at the other end matched him stroke for stroke. The biggest of Pooran's sixes came off the 74th ball of the innings - monstered 113 metres out of the ground. He ended the contest with another three sixes and a four off Fazalhaq Farooqi in the penultimate five.
66 not out vs Manchester Originals
The Hundred, Manchester
Pooran has made well over 3000 T20 runs at a strike rate of 160 in the world's top T20 leagues over the last two years - and that included the Hundred, where he made his first appearance in 2024. He made 60s in their first two wins, had a blip of three games, and came back to the party with this innings, which took Northern Superchargers to a win after they were effectively 29 for 3 chasing 153. Uncharacteristically, Pooran took eight balls to score his first run on a belter, but he made up with sixes in each of the next three fives, while Harry Brook at the other end matched him stroke for stroke. The biggest of Pooran's sixes came off the 74th ball of the innings - monstered 113 metres out of the ground. He ended the contest with another three sixes and a four off Fazalhaq Farooqi in the penultimate five.
Quinton de Kock
115 vs Guyana Amazon Warriors
CPL, Bridgetown
Opening the innings, de Kock initially took the back seat against six-time finalists and holding champions Amazon Warriors while Kadeem Alleyne got stuck in at the other end. But de Kock teed off with consecutive fours in the fifth over and then took 15 runs off Shamar Joseph in the seventh, in which he also copped a short, fast one to the stomach. Wickets fell steadily at the other end, to Dwaine Pretorius and Raymon Reifer, but de Kock held firm, bringing up his hundred off 60 balls and then walloping two sixes in the 19th off Reifer before finally holing out. Warriors made a game attempt at chasing, but they didn't have a de Kock of their own.
115 vs Guyana Amazon Warriors
CPL, Bridgetown
Opening the innings, de Kock initially took the back seat against six-time finalists and holding champions Amazon Warriors while Kadeem Alleyne got stuck in at the other end. But de Kock teed off with consecutive fours in the fifth over and then took 15 runs off Shamar Joseph in the seventh, in which he also copped a short, fast one to the stomach. Wickets fell steadily at the other end, to Dwaine Pretorius and Raymon Reifer, but de Kock held firm, bringing up his hundred off 60 balls and then walloping two sixes in the 19th off Reifer before finally holing out. Warriors made a game attempt at chasing, but they didn't have a de Kock of their own.