New Zealand opener Finn Allen shattered the world record for the most sixes in a T20 innings. Allen, playing for the San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket (MLC), smashed 19 sixes against the Washington Freedom at the Oakland Coliseum in the opening game of the season on Friday, surpassing the previous joint record of 18 sixes held by Chris Gayle and Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan.

While wreaking havoc on Washington’s bowlers, Allen also brought up his 150 off just 49 balls with his 19th six, making it the fastest 150 in T20 cricket history. He eventually scored 151 off 51 balls, also including 5 fours. He batted at a strike rate of 296.08.

Batting first at the Oakland Coliseum, California - the MLC’s latest venue - after losing the toss, Allen clobbered the Washington bowlers to score 40 off 14 balls inside the Powerplay, hitting five sixes. The 26-year-old reached his fifty off 20 balls. During his innings, the right-handed batter hit three sixes in an over as he sped to his fourth T20 century in only 34 deliveries—the fastest MLC century and the quickest T20 hundred by a New Zealand batter.

Allen continued his destructive batting, hitting five more sixes as he broke the record for most sixes in a T20 innings in the 17th over. He was eventually dismissed on the first ball of the 18th over.

In what was a repeat of last year's final, runners-up Unicorns amassed 269 for 5 in 20 overs against Washington Freedom, the defending champions—setting the highest-ever men’s T20 total in the United States.

The second-highest scorer for the Unicorns was Hassan Khan, who made 38, while Sanjay Krishnamurthi played a 36-run innings.

Jack Edwards was the most successful bowler, conceding 39 runs for 2 wickets in his stipulated 4 overs.

In January 2024, Allen broke Brendon McCullum’s New Zealand T20I record by smashing 137 runs off just 62 balls against Pakistan. He hit 16 sixes in that innings, equalling Afghanistan’s Hazratullah Zazai for the most sixes scored by a player in a T20I innings. Allen’s 163.27 T20I strike rate is also the highest among all New Zealand batters.

In the IPL, Allen was picked up by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2022. However, he was not offered any game time by the IPL 2025 champions. Allen found no bidders at the IPL auction last year.

19 sixes – Finn Allen (San Francisco Unicorns vs Washington Freedom), 2025

18 sixes – Chris Gayle (Rangpur Riders vs Dhaka Dynamites), 2017

18 sixes – Sahil Chauhan (Estonia vs Cyprus), 2024

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