Courtesy: CWI
On March 3, 2021, Kieron Pollard, the former West Indies cricketer, became the third batter in history of international cricket to hit six sixes in an over after Yuvraj Singh and Herschelle Gibbs. The all-rounder achieved the feat during the first T20I of the three-match series against Sri Lankan leg spinner Akila Dananjaya at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, which led to West Indies winning the game comfortably by four wickets with 41 balls remaining. Coincidentally, during the pursuit of the 132-run target, West Indies had faltered in front Akila Dananjaya in the earlier stages, conceding a hat-trick.
After winning the toss, Kieron Pollard, the captain of West Indies, decided to bat first, his bowlers delivered an exceptional performance, reducing Sri Lanka to 131/9 in their allotted overs despite the decent 30s from Pathum Nissanka and Niroshan Dickwella. Six different bowlers took wickets for West Indies in the Sri Lankan innings including two for Obed McCoy, and one each for the likes of Kevin Sinclair, Fidel Edwards, Jason Holder, Dwayne Bravo, and Fabian Allen. Meanwhile, the likes of Ashen Bandara and Dushmantha Chameera were run out in the latter stages of the innings.
In the run chase, West Indies got off to a flyer with Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis striking boundaries in the power play stage before Akila Dananjaya picked up a hat-trick from out of nowhere in the fourth over. He took the big wicket of Evin Lewis first and foremost before sending Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran back into the pavilion on consecutive deliveries without troubling the scorers. But, in the sixth over of the West Indies innings, Kieron Pollard, who was new to the crease, went on a rampage as he obliterated Akil Dananjaya with six sixes in an over, making his hat-trick a distant memory within minutes.
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Pollard is third batter in international cricket after Gibbs and Singh to hit six sixes in over
Before the exploits of Kieron Pollard with the bat, the first batter in international cricket to hit six sixes in an over was South African Herschelle Gibbs, who achieved the feat in the ODI World Cup 2007 clash against Netherlands leg spinner Daan van Bunge at the Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts. Just a few months later, during the inaugural T20 World Cup in the year 2007, India’s Yuvraj Singh smashed six sixes in one over of England fast bowler Stuart Broad at the Kingsmead in Durban, South Africa. His performance propelled India to the semi-finals of the tournament, and ultimately, the Indian cricket team went on to win the title.
The power-hitting in cricket has grown leaps and bounds in the T20 era over the past 20 years or so, but still, hitting six sixes in one over is one of the toughest feat for any batter at the international level.
