Welsh Fire suffered a heavy nine-wicket defeat at Old Trafford at the hands of Manchester Super Giants, in a match that will be remembered for Jos Buttler becoming the leading run-scorer in T20 history, overtaking Kieron Pollard with a blistering six-hitting display.

Buttler smashed six sixes and two fours on his way to an unbeaten 51 off just 20 balls, moving past Pollard’s career tally of 14,803 T20 runs with the first of three consecutive sixes off Marco Jansen.

He brought up the win in fitting fashion too, finishing the match with back-to-back sixes down the ground off Lockie Ferguson.

Cricket statisticians include Hundred data in T20 records, meaning Buttler’s tally now stands at 14,833 runs in the shortest format.

“It’s really cool, actually, to think you’ve got the most T20 runs out of anyone,” Buttler told Sky Sports.

“Someone will surpass it one day – and his name’s probably [Vaibhav] Sooryavanshi – but it’s a proud moment.

“We played against MI London last game and it would have been nice to get past Polly while he was there sat in the dugout, but there’s some great names on there, some special players, so I’m really proud of that.”

Pollard could reclaim the record when he turns out for Trinbago Knight Riders in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League, alongside Alex Hales, who currently sits fourth on the all-time list, though the Trinidadian is increasingly focused on his coaching career as he scales back his playing commitments.

The landmark capped a remarkable turnaround for Buttler, who endured a lean run over the winter, managing only 87 runs in eight innings at the T20 World Cup in February and March.

He put his return to form down to the “energy and determination” needed to fight through a difficult patch.

“It’s funny how quickly cricket can change: one day you’re the dog, one day you’re the lamppost,” he added.

“A few months ago, I was struggling for form, and in the last few weeks especially, I probably feel like I’m batting as well as I ever have.

“You’ve only ever got two options: you either give up, or you’ve got the energy to keep going and try to rediscover your form.

“I’ve had enough energy and determination to try and get back there, and that’s what I’ve done.”

Buttler had only taken the Super Giants captaincy on Wednesday, with Aiden Markram flying home to South Africa for personal reasons, and it was his destructive stand with Tim Seifert — who struck 62 from 36 balls — that saw the hosts cruise to their target of 156 with 31 balls to spare.

The win also gave Manchester’s Net Run Rate a significant boost, moving them up to third in the table, four points behind Fire in second.

For the Fire, it was a frustrating night at the top of the order, despite an uncommon decision from captain Phil Salt to bat first after winning the toss.

Salt and Matt Short put on an opening stand of 125 off 83 balls, striking a combined 11 fours and five sixes between them, though neither man ever truly cut loose.

Salt made 48 from 37 balls before he was finally caught in the deep off Josh Tongue with the 83rd ball of the innings, the first of four wickets to fall for just 13 runs.

Short, who top-scored with 71 from 47 deliveries, was caught at long-on off Paul Walter, while Jordan Cox and Tom Kohler-Cadmore also picked out boundary fielders off Gus Atkinson as Fire slipped to 155 for 4, a total that always looked below par.

There was to be no rescue act from Joe Root either. England’s newly reinstated Test captain didn’t even get to the crease, shuffled down the order in favour of the Fire’s bigger hitters.

In reply, the Super Giants got off to a flying start of their own, with Seifert and Walter putting on 74 from just 35 balls in the powerplay.

Walter, playing his first match of the tournament after coming in for the departed Markram, smashed 37 from 18 deliveries, including a run of five consecutive boundaries off Jansen and Rachin Ravindra.

The Fire did eventually remove him, but only thanks to a superb piece of fielding from Ben Kellaway, who pulled off a spectacular save on the mid-wicket rope, throwing the ball up as he stepped over the boundary before stepping back onto the field of play to complete the catch.

It proved to be merely a brief setback for the home side, who pressed on regardless.

Buttler took his time before exploding into life, launching Jansen into the stands at deep square leg to move past Pollard’s record, then repeating the trick twice more off the very next two balls to reach his half-century off just 20 deliveries, as the Super Giants cantered home with nine wickets and 31 balls to spare.

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