Jos Buttler became the highest run-scorer in the history of T20 cricket on 5 August 2026, overtaking Kieron Pollard's record of 14,803 runs during a The Hundred match at Old Trafford — and he did it in some style, launching the first of three consecutive sixes off Duan Jansen to move past the milestone.

The record came amid a brutal, destructive innings of 51 from 20 balls, featuring two fours and six sixes. Buttler raced to his fifty at a strike rate of 255 — meaning he scored more than two and a half runs for every delivery faced — as Manchester Super Giants chased down Welsh Fire's total of 155-4 with 31 balls to spare, winning by nine wickets. BBC Sport

Welsh Fire had earlier looked well set. Captain Phil Salt won the toss and chose to bat, then put on 125 for the first wicket alongside Matt Short. Salt made 48 from 37 balls; Short top-scored with 71 from 47, finding the boundary with comfort through the first half of the innings. But once the opening stand was broken, Fire's momentum stalled, and Paul Walter's lively 37 from 18 balls — his first appearance of the tournament after Aiden Markram's withdrawal for personal reasons — was the only late acceleration on offer. Fire finished on 155-4 from their 100 balls, a total that looked competitive until Buttler and Seifert decided otherwise.

Tim Seifert played the perfect foil at the other end, finishing 62 not out from 36 balls. The New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter rotated the strike, punished anything loose, and ensured Buttler had the platform to attack. Between them, the pair made a chase of 156 look like a warm-up — Manchester reached the target with more than half their innings unused. BBC Sport

The win moved Manchester Super Giants into third place in The Hundred's standings, four points behind second-placed Welsh Fire. For Fire, it was a sobering evening after a strong campaign that had seen them win three of their previous four men's matches across various venues from Southampton to Birmingham.

For Buttler, the record caps a remarkable journey through cricket's shortest format. Now 35, he has accumulated runs across the global T20 circuit — international caps for England, the Indian Premier League, the Big Bash in Australia, and now The Hundred at home. The Hundred's official site lists his 2026 tournament stats at 226 runs from five matches off 135 balls, a tally that now sits alongside the all-time milestone. The Hundred

What makes the moment special is how Buttler reached it. Three sixes in a row off Jansen — the first clearing the rope to break Pollard's mark — summed up the approach that has defined his career. Not graft, not accumulation, but sheer, clean ball-striking. Pollard, the towering West Indian who was the previous record-holder, built his 14,803 runs across 17 years of franchise cricket. Buttler has now gone past him, and on this evidence, he is not slowing down.