NEW DELHI: In a span of just two overs, Sri Lanka spinner Akila Dananjaya experienced both the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, as Windies pulled off a stunning four-wicket win against the visitors in the first T20I in Antigua on Thursday.
A hat-trick over by Dananjaya was followed by one that saw six sixes being hit, as Trinidadian Kieron Pollard threw the kitchen sink at Dananjaya, taking him to the cleaners in a thrilling encounter.
Pollard, thus became the third international cricketer after South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs and India’s Yuvraj Singh to achieve the rare feat of hitting six sixes in an over in international cricket.
TimesofIndia.com here takes a look at the three instances when batsmen hit six sixes in an over in international cricket.
Herschelle Gibbs: Bowler – Daan van Bunge (Netherlands) in 2007 ODI World Cup
It was on March 16, 2007, the seventh match of the ICC World Cup in 2007 in West Indies when former South Africa top order batsman Herschelle Gibbs became the first batsman in the history of international cricket to slam six sixes in an over. In the match against Netherlands, Gibbs slammed leg-spinner Daan van Bunge to all corners of the park, achieving the rare feat for the first time. In the 30th over of the match, Gibbs cut loose as he took van Bunge to the cleaners. After hitting the first maximum over long-on, Gibbs slammed the next two balls over the long-off fence. Gibbs’ fourth strike came off a full toss that went over the deep mid-wicket boundary. The fifth and the sixth sixes that Gibbs hit, went over the long off and deep mid-wicket fence respectively. Gibbs scored 72 off 40 in that match which the Proteas eventually won by a mammoth 221 runs.

Yuvraj Singh: Bowler – Stuart Broad (England) in 2007 T20 World Cup
It was just a matter of a few words that England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff had to say that pumped up India’s Yuvraj Singh, as the swashbuckling left-hander a few minutes later went into carnage mode, smoking pacer Stuart Broad all over the Durban park. Yuvraj Singh attacked Broad on September 19, 2007, making it a nightmare outing for the English paceman. After hitting the first maximum over the cow corner, Yuvraj stylishly flicked the second ball over the backward square leg fence. Yuvraj then handsomely smashed the third ball over the extra cover fence before slapping the fourth over the point boundary. The fifth and the sixth six went over mid-wicket and wide wide mid-on, as Yuvraj became the first Indian to hit 6 sixes in international cricket and the first in T20 cricket. Yuvraj in that match scored a fifty off just 12 balls. That still stands as the fastest fifty in T20 format. India won the match by 18 runs.

Kieron Pollard: Bowler – Akila Dananjaya (Sri Lanka) in 1st bilateral T20I in 2021
Batting powerhouse Kieron Pollard was in demolition mode in the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Antigua on Thursday. Chasing a moderate total of 132, the hosts were reeling at 62 for 4, as spinner Akila Dananjaya claimed a memorable hat-trick that included the scalp of Chris Gayle for a first-ball duck. But Dananjaya’s joy didn’t last long, as the Windies skipper Pollard arrived at the crease and just took the match away in the blink of an eye. The hat-trick over from Dananjaya was followed by a demolition job by Pollard as the Trinidadian came out all guns blazing against the spinner. The rare incident of 6 sixes happened in the final over of the powerplay, as Pollard took full advantage of the powerplay restrictions. After slamming the first boundary over long-on, Pollard then went straight down town to hit the sightscreen. The next strike was over the wide long-off fence followed by a hit over the deep mid-wicket region. The final two sixes hit by Pollard were straight down the ground and over the deep mid-wicket fence. Thanks to the Pollard mayhem, the Windies achieved the target of 132 in just 13.1 overs.