5 Highest Run-Scorers In CPL History

Chris Gayle (x.com)Chris Gayle (x.com)

In a cricketing world overrun by numerous franchise-based competitions, West Indies Cricket’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) managed to carve its own niche among the pantheons of global T20 tournaments. Launched in 2013, the CPL has gone on to become an esteemed stage for many explosive T20 power-hitters, including some of the biggest names from modern-day West Indies cricket.

Here at OneCricket, we take a look at five of these batting heavyweights, who have managed to record the highest number of runs in CPL history.

5. Chris Gayle - 2,519 runs

Chris Gayle - 2,519 runs (x)Chris Gayle - 2,519 runs (x)

Chris Gayle, T20 cricket’s biggest paragon, minted 2,519 runs in 85 CPL matches between 2013 and 2021 at an alluring average of 36.50. The legendary power-hitter blasted four tons and 13 half-centuries in the process, and maintained an astonishing strike-rate of 133.33. 

Prior to the launch of the 2024 season of CPL, Gayle also jointly held the record of smashing the highest number of sixes with Kieron Pollard, having flogged 172 out of his 1,056 career maximums within the hallowed arena of Caribbean’s biggest T20 carnival. 

Apart from hauling some of the game’s biggest batting records, Chris Gayle was also a part of a CPL-winning side on three occasions, twice with Jamaica Tallawahs (2013 and 2016) and once with St Kitts & Nevis Patriots (2021).

4. Kieron Pollard - 2,574 runs

Kieron Pollard - 2,574 runs (x)Kieron Pollard - 2,574 runs (x)

Kieron Pollard has tallied 2,574 runs in 103 innings spanning 10 CPL seasons for three different teams. Currently headlining the Trinbago Knight Riders group, Pollard’s strike-rate of 149.39 is the highest among all CPL batters with more than 2,000 runs to their names. 

The burly Trinidad all-rounder has already muscled his way to 172 tournament sixes, and will be expected to add many more to his profile during the CPL 2024 season. The legendary West Indies all-rounder has cracked 12 half-centuries, and listed the lone century of his expansive T20 career within the grand stage of CPL back in 2018 for the St Lucia Stars.

3. Lendl Simmons - 2,629 runs

Lendl Simmons - 2,629 runs (x)Lendl Simmons - 2,629 runs (x)

Attacking wicketkeeper-batter Lendl Simmons pounded 2,629 runs in just 91 innings for five different CPL teams at an average of 31.67. He even lifted the coveted CPL trophy in 2020 for the Trinbago Knight Riders franchise, and contributed to their winning cause with 356 runs in 11 matches (the highest of that season). 

While he never managed to raise his bat for a triple-figure score, Simmons did list 20 half-centuries and had launched 133 sixes up until his final CPL appearance in 2021.

2. Andre Fletcher - 2,817 runs

Andre Fletcher - 2,817 runs (x)Andre Fletcher - 2,817 runs (x)

West Indies international star Andre Fletcher is one of only a handful of players to have played over 100 CPL matches. In 105 innings, he recorded 2,817 runs at a healthy batting average of nearly 30. Like most senior West Indies-based senior stars, Fletcher commenced his CPL journey back in 2013 during the inception of the tournament. 

Before heading into the CPL 2024 season as part of St Kitts & Nevis Patriots playing group, he produced 16 half-centuries and cleared the fence 127 times.

1. Johnson Charles - 2,855 runs

Johnson Charles - 2,855 runs (x)Johnson Charles - 2,855 runs (x)

Flamboyance personified, Johnson Charles’ batsmanship dazzles with every stroke, thanks to his knack for consistently converting starts into prolific, match-defining scores. Having played for numerous different teams so far, the CPL’s quintessential journeyman has logged 2,855 runs at an average of 27.99 and with a staggering top-order strike-rate of nearly 130. Charles finds himself at the top of CPL’s all-time run-scoring charts, and he is currently involved in a tight batting race with Andre Fletcher.