Former England captain Jos Buttler on Wednesday broke a new record by becoming the highest run-scorer in the history of T20 cricket. The 35-year-old wicketkeeper-batter achieved this milestone during Manchester Super Giants’ nine-wicket win over Welsh Fire in The Hundred at Old Trafford. Buttler smashed an unbeaten 51 off just 20 balls, which included two fours and six sixes at a strike rate of 255. This explosive innings took his career T20 tally to 14,833 runs in 492 innings across 522 matches.
He went past former West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard, who had held the record with 14,803 runs from 663 innings in 746 matches. Former West Indies batter Chris Gayle now sits third on the list of most T20 runs with 14,562 runs. England’s Alex Hales (14,449) and Australia’s David Warner (14,284) complete the top five.
Buttler got to that milestone in spectacular fashion. Needing 22 runs to go past Pollard, he smashed South African pacer Marco Jansen for three consecutive sixes. The first of those sixes took him past Pollard. He later finished the chase in style with back-to-back sixes off Lockie Ferguson. Welsh Fire had posted 155 for 4 in their 100 balls, on the back of Matt Short’s knock of 71 while Phil Salt also made 48. Manchester Super Giants cruised to the target, reaching 161 for 1 in just 69 balls. Opener Tim Seifert remained unbeaten on 62 off 36 balls, while Paul Walter scored 37 before Buttler completed things off with a half century.
Jos Buttler predicts Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to surpass his T20 run record
Buttler, has scored nine centuries and 106 fifties in the T20 format, has been in fine form this season for Manchester Super Giants. This was his fourth half-century in six matches in The Hundred 2026, and his latest knock helped the side move into the top three on the points table. Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Buttler admitted the achievement was special but acknowledged that records are meant to be broken.
"It's really cool, actually, to think you've got the most T20 runs out of anyone. Someone will surpass it one day - and his name's probably [Vaibhav] Sooryavanshi - but it's a proud moment," Buttler said.
The 15 year-old teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has emerged as one of cricket's brightest young talents. After a standout Under-19 World Cup campaign, where he scored 439 runs and was named Player of the Tournament, he carried that form into international cricket, smashing 151 runs in three T20Is against Zimbabwe to win the Player of the Series award as India completed a 3-0 sweep. He also won the orange cap in IPL 2026 while also breaking the record of Chris Gayle for most sixes in a season. Jos Buttler has consistently praised Vaibhav, and he has backed the left-hander to break his record in the future.
