The Caribbean Premier League have started broadcasting classic matches from the tournament and we at CricViz thought it would be apt to look back at some of the best power hitters in recent times in the competition. For this, we’ve taken into consideration our metric – Power Rating - to decide the top hitters in the CPL in recent times. We’re looking at all the players in the last four seasons of the competition to have played at least 150 balls, a large enough sample size to decide the best power hitters.

CricViz’s measure Power Rating explores beyond intent and contact and looks at a player’s ability to find and clear the rope when they make good contact. Power looks specifically at shots when the batsman has made good contact and is a ratio of their well-hit boundaries to the boundary-rate of those shots. For example, when Kieron Pollard makes a good connection with a drive shot against a spinner, he hits a boundary every 1.85 balls. This number is then weighted towards sixes which are worth more and then compared to the overall shots per boundary for all players with good connection drives against spinners of 3.49 balls per boundary, which is also then weighted towards sixes. The final figures are aggregated across all shots and multiplied by 100 to produce a Power rating. It is important to stress that in this form Power is not a measure of how far or how hard the batsman can hit the ball – something we can categorize as Raw Power; but instead it is a measure of how effective the batsman is at hitting boundaries, and more specifically, sixes – something we can categorize as Game Power.

TEN. Nicolas Pooran: One of the most promising players from the Caribbean, Nicholas Pooran, makes it to #10 in our list with a power rating of 144. The left-hander excelled playing for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the 2019 edition, moving from the Tridents where he was also successful from 2016 to 2018. The 24-year old from Trinidad was exceptional in CPL 2019, especially at the death scoring at 16.11 runs per over. Of the 18 players to have faced 30+ balls at the death in CPL 2019, none scored as quick as Pooran.

NINE. Alex Hales: England’s Alex Hales from the Tridents makes it to #9 with a power rating of 146. The right-hander scored a boundary once in every five deliveries in CPL 2019 – more often than any of the other players from Barbados Tridents.

EIGHT. Glenn Phillips: Jamaica Tallawahs’ opener - Glenn Phillips, slots into number eight in the list with a power rating of 148. In the last two CPL seasons, the New Zealander has scored 831 runs in 21 matches – more than any other player in the competition. Across his CPL career Phillips has preferred facing the angle from left arm bowlers - he has scored at 9.31 runs per overs against left arm bowlers compared to 7.87 rpo against right arm bowlers.

SEVEN. Chris Gayle: The Universe Boss, undisputed T20 King, Chris Gayle makes it to #7 with a power rating of 150. With 2354 runs in the CPL, no player has scored more runs than the Jamaican. Gayle has registered 162 sixes in the CPL – more than any other player. No T20 list that talks about hitters is ever complete without a mention of Chris Gayle.

SIX. Shane Watson: Shane Watson who played two seasons for St Lucia in 2016 & 2017 as their icon player makes it into the list at #6 with a power rating of 151. In his two seasons in the CPL, Watson was severe against seamers striking at 9.94 runs per over compared to a significantly lower 6.45 runs per over against spinners. He was very effective at the death, scoring at 11.41 runs per over with a power rating of 170 and scored almost half his run in the ‘V’ down the wicket.

FIVE. Fabian Allen: The 24-year old, part of the current Windies fire power with his big hitting capabilities slots into #5 with a power rating of 156. Playing for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Allen has quickly become one of the most lethal strikers of the ball in the CPL. Across all CPL seasons of all players to have faced at least 150 balls in the competition, Fabian Allen has a strike rate of 181.2 tied with Andre Russell as the best strikers. Lethal against the seamers, Allen could soon become a CPL superstar and very promising prospect for the Windies in the International setup.

FOUR. Andre Russell: A Windies power list without Andre Russell is not a list. The big hitting Jamaican, renowned for his exploits in T20 leagues across the world, slots into #4 in the list with a power rating of 164. Russell is well known for his ability to accelerate at the death in T20s. In the CPL what makes him rather special is his prowess to score quickly in the middle overs, striking at 9.87 runs per over in the phase. Of all players to have faced 100+ balls in the phase in the CPL, none have scored quicker.

THREE. DJ Bravo: Probably a surprise at #3 in the list, DJ Bravo with a power rating of 165, finds himself higher than most of the other big Windies power hitters. Well, a look at the numbers shows why it isn’t very surprising with his versatility. Adept at playing both spin and pace effectively, Bravo excels playing through the onside against spinners and lethal on the offside against seamers. Scoring at 14.75 runs per over towards backward point against seamers – a trademark shot for the man from TKR, a clear example of his strength using his timing and power.

TWO. Evin Lewis: Evin Lewis with a power rating of 172, slots into the second position in the list. Touted as the next Chris Gayle, Lewis is exceptional in the powerplay, especially when there’s pace on. What makes Lewis all the more special in the form he carries into the middle overs. In the powerplay he scores at 8.9 runs per over, but that jumps to a higher 10.26 runs per over in the middle overs. Once set, Lewis’s onside play makes him the special player that he is. In the middle overs, he scores at staggering 16.7 runs per over through the onside playing only 7% false shots, scoring almost 40% runs playing his trademark pull shot.

ONE. Rahkeem Cornwall: Rahkeem Cornwall, the big Antiguan with his highly successful 2019 season tops the list with a power rating of 190. A very clear, aggressive role to execute in the powerplay, Cornwall had a breakthrough season in 2019. A perfect mix of attack and power - no player has a higher attack rating & power rating compared to Cornwall. The big hitting opener has scored at 10.02 runs per over in the powerplay. Of all players in CPL history, none have scored at a quicker rate in the first six overs. Whilst he’s played numerous seasons of Caribbean Premier League before this year, 2019 has been the moment when he crossed over, and when people really started to take notice.