New Zealand opener Finn Allen lit up the opening game of Major League Cricket 2025, smashing a whirlwind 151 off just 51 balls, breaking all-time T20 records along the way.
Allen, facing the new ball with his New Zealand opening partner Tim Seifert, blitzed through to a 34-ball century, powering the San Francisco Unicorns to 269-5. They became the first team to cross 250 in the MLC.
In response, Washington Freedom stumbled to 146 all out, leading to a 123-run loss.
Leading the charge with the ball were Haris Rauf and Hassan Khan, both taking three wickets apiece.
Finn Allen breaks Chris Gayle's joint-record
Allen hit 19 sixes, now the record for the most in a T20 innings, and breaking Chris Gayle's tally of 18 from the 2017 Bangladesh Premier League, which he shared with Estonia's Sahil Chauhan (2024). It is now the highest score in MLC, beating Nicholas Pooran's 137* in the 2023 final.
In all, the Unicorns hit 28 sixes, the second-most ever in a T20 total.
Match 1, San Francisco Unicorns vs Washington Freedom
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Most sixes in a T20 innings: Full list
| Player | Sixes | For | Against | Year |
| Finn Allen | 19 | San Francisco Unicorns | Washington Freedom | 2025 |
| Chris Gayle | 18 | Rangpur Riders | Dhaka Dynamites | 2017 |
| Sahil Chauhan | 18 | Estonia | Cyprus | 2024 |
| Chris Gayle | 17 | RCB | Pune Warriors | 2013 |
| Punit Bisht | 17 | Meghalaya | Mizoram | 2021 |
Allen needed 34 balls to reach his century, the joint-tenth fastest in the history of T20 cricket.
He also broke the record for the fastest 150 in T20s, taking just 49 balls to cross that mark. The previous record was held by South Africa's Dewald Brevis, who had managed it in 52 balls as a 19-year-old for the Titans against the the Knights in 2022.
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