Who has the highest T20I powerplay scores?

Who has the highest T20I powerplay scores? originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

India's chase at Hagley Oval began at a pace that put them into the record books before the eighth over had been bowled. Facing a target of 226 in the opening T20I against New Zealand, they raced to 94 for 1 inside six overs, a start quick enough to earn them a place among the biggest powerplays in the format's history.

It is the second time in little over a month that India have broken into this list. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson had already taken them to 100 without loss against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in September, the first time India had reached three figures inside the fielding restrictions.

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India's 94/1 in Christchurch puts them among the fastest starts in T20I history

Chasing 226 left India with no option but to go hard from the first ball, and they did exactly that, losing only one wicket while the field was up. The 94 they took off the New Zealand attack is the joint seventh-highest powerplay score recorded in a men's T20I.

Curiously, it matches India's own effort against the same opposition in Guwahati in January 2026, when Abhishek Sharma brought up a 14-ball fifty, the second-fastest by an Indian in the format, on the way to 94 in the first six overs.

That gives India three entries inside the top ten, more than any other side. No team has managed a start of this size against New Zealand on their soil before.

MORE: Highest successful run chases in all T20 cricket at Hagley Oval, Christchurch

Where does this performance stand among the all-time T20I powerplay scores?

The top spot still belongs to Australia, who plundered 113 against Scotland in Edinburgh in 2024, with Travis Head making 73 of those runs and striking 12 fours in the first six overs alone.

South Africa are second with 102 against the West Indies in Centurion in 2023, while England's 100 against South Africa at Old Trafford in 2025 is now matched by India's 100 without loss against Afghanistan in Delhi, which came off the back of a 16-ball fifty from Abhishek Sharma.

India's arrival at both ends of the table has pushed the Netherlands, whose 91 against Ireland in Sylhet stood since 2014, out of the top ten altogether.

What are the top 10 biggest powerplay scores in T20I cricket?

Here's the list of teams with the highest scores in the first six overs of a T20I match:

Highest powerplay totals for India in T20Is

In the last two years, India has rewritten its powerplay record almost entirely, with Abhishek Sharma involved in nearly all of it. Their best, the 100 without loss against Afghanistan in Delhi, came in September 2026 and surpassed a mark that had stood for only 19 months.

Before that, it was the 95 for 1 at the Wankhede in February 2025, when Abhishek reached fifty in 17 balls and made 58 of those runs himself, the most by an Indian batter inside the fielding restrictions. India went on to post 247 for 9, their highest T20I total.

Further down the list sit the 86 for 1 against Namibia in Delhi, India's best in a World Cup match, and the 82 for 2 against Scotland at the 2024 edition. The 78 for 2 against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2018 is the oldest entry still standing.