Kieron Pollard is leading MI Emirates in the fourth edition of the International League T20 (ILT20). The former West Indies skipper and legendary all-rounder was in action for the Ambani-owned side on Saturday
(December 28) against Dubai Capitals. In MI Emirates’ last league match of the ongoing season, Pollard played a knock of unbeaten 44 runs from 31 balls at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
During his stay at the crease, he slammed one four and five sixes for the 2024 ILT20 champions and helped them chase down the target of 123 runs in 16.4 overs for the loss of two wickets.
In the match against Dubai Capitals, Pollard slammed Afghanistan spinner Waqar Salamkheil for 30 runs in an over. Waqar Salamkheil is the highest wicket-taker in the ongoing season of the ILT20, but against Pollard he looked clueless on Saturday.
The former Mumbai Indians all-rounder hammered Salamkheil for a six on the first ball of the 15th over and then scored a four on the next ball. On the third ball, Pollard added two more runs to MIE’s tally. He finished the over by smacking Salamkheil for three sixes in the last three balls.
Kieron Pollard kills the chase with a 3️⃣0️⃣ run over! 🥵💥
Unmatched, belligerent hitting by the skipper. Clean, powerful, devastating! 🔥#MIEvDC #DPWorldILT20 #AllInForCricket #WhereTheWorldPlays pic.twitter.com/yMK70Wzx3R
— International League T20 (@ILT20Official) December 27, 2025
Salamkheil, who only conceded 13 runs in his first three overs, finished the match with figures of 0 for 43 in four overs.
The five sixes by Pollard on Saturday helped him take his tally of maximums to 980 in 730 T20 matches. He now needs to hit 20 more sixes to become the second batter in the world after Chris Gayle to smack 1000 sixes in the 20-over format of the game.
Gayle played 463 matches for more than two dozen teams from 2005 to 2022 and slammed 1056 maximums.
Before joining Gayle in the list of batters with 1000-plus sixes in T20s, Pollard will have a chance to break his record of scoring the most runs in T20s.
Gayle finished his career with 14,562 runs in 463 matches, whereas Pollard has 14,419 runs to his name. He needs to score 144 more runs to overtake the Universe Boss.
