Stats: Players who hit six sixes in an over in professional cricket

The Sunday’s Super Smash game between Canterbury and Northern Districts turned out to be a thriller as Canterbury produced a six-hitting fest chasing a target of 220. The equation came down to 64 runs required from the last 5 overs. Leo Carter, who scored only 11 off 12 balls till then, took on Anthon Devcich in the 16th over. Carter sent the left-arm spinner all over the ground as he hit sixes on all the six balls. Carter’s unbeaten 70-run knock guided the hosts to a win as he struck 3 fours and 7 sixes in only 29 balls.

Leo Carter thus became the first New Zealand player to hit six sixes in a professional match. Carter is the 7th player with this feat and the 4th to do so in a Twenty20 match. Yuvraj Singh struck six sixes in the 2007 WT20 match in the bowling of Stuart Broad on his way to a 12-ball fifty which was the only instance of six sixes in an over in T20Is till date. Ross Whiteley in 2017 T20 Blast and Hazratullah Zazai in the 2018 Afghanistan Premier League hit six sixes in an over.

Herschelle Gibbs hit six in six balls against Netherlands

Interestingly, both the players ended on losing side and 37 runs came on both the instances as there was a wide ball. In fact, all the four players with this feat in T20s were left-handed batsmen only. Among the seven instances, only Yuvraj Singh has recorded it against a pace bowler. Stuart Broad, who was on the receiving end, is easily the most successful bowler among the seven victims of six sixes in an over.

In the 2007 CWC, Herschelle Gibbs hit six in six balls against the Netherlands. The leg-spinner Dan van Bunge was the unfortunate bowler to be on the receiving end. All the five players who struck six sixes in an over in non-International matches did it against left-arm spin bowlers. Carter’s feat powered Canterbury to chase down the target of 220 runs; the joint-highest successful chase in a domestic T20 match in New Zealand.

The Central Districts chased 220 against Otago team in the 2005/06 season which was also the first-ever domestic T20 competition in New Zealand. However, the highest T20 chase in New Zealand remains as 244 by Australia against New Zealand in 2018 Auckland T20I. It was the highest ever target successfully chased down not only in T20Is but also in the history of Twenty20 cricket.

(Stats as on January 5, 2020)