New Delhi [India], March 16 (ANI): On this day fourteen years ago, South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs became the first player to smash six sixes in an over in international cricket.
Gibbs achieved the feat against the Netherlands during the 2007 ODI World Cup in Basseterre. South Africa was 178/2 when Gibbs unleashed the beast within and whacked six sixes off spinner Daan van Bunge’s over.
Taking to Instagram, Gibbs on Tuesday posted a photo with the bat and wrote: “This was the stick that did it 14yrs ago.. 16-3-2007 #caribbeanlife #cricketworldcup #stkitts #6×6 #johnnywalker #habitatforhumanity.”
Reacting to a video on his feat, posted by ESPNcricinfo, Gibbs wrote: “Adrenaline rush.”
Gibbs had smashed the first two six after coming down the track but the next four followed without him moving an inch from the crease.
South Africa slammed 353/3 in the allotted 50 overs and then defeated the Netherlands by 221 runs. Gibbs was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his blistering onslaught in the game.
Six months later in 2007, then India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh equalled the record of smashing six sixes in an over of international cricket but he did that in the shortest format of the game.
Interestingly, earlier this month, West Indies limited-overs skipper Kieron Pollard entered the elite list of players who have achieved the milestone of hitting 6 sixes in an over on the international stage.
Pollard hit Sri Lanka’s Akila Dananjaya for six 6s in the sixth over of the innings as the hosts were chasing a target of 132 runs in the first T20I against Sri Lanka.
However, Gibbs’ record still remains the only one in ODIs. The former South Africa batsman had welcomed Pollard to the six-hitting club saying that “March is a popular month for hitting six sixes”. (ANI)
