DUBAI: Ruturaj Gaikwad hits 7 sixes an over in Vijay Hazare Trophy to create a world record

DUBAI: Think Ruturaj Gaikwad and you will think of an attacking batter, who became a household name while playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. Now, the Maharashtra batter has become the first in List-A cricketing history to hit seven sixes in an over.

The feat also equalled the List-A world record of 43 runs in an over, during the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-final between Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh at the Narendra Modi Stadium B Ground in Ahmedabad.

Finishing on a mammoth score of 220 not out off 159 balls, including a jaw-dropping 16 sixes, along with 10 fours, Gaikwad hit a hapless Shiva Singh for 6-6-6(no-ball)-6-6-6-6 in the over.

During the 2018-19 Ford Trophy in New Zealand, Central Districts’ bowler Willem Ludick was the first to be hit for 43 runs in an over, when he was smashed all around the park by the Northern Districts batters Joe Carter and Brett Hampton.
Gaikwad’s blitzkrieg powered Maharashtra to 330/5 in their 50 overs.

The Maharashtra innings was really a one-man show. The rest of the Maharashtra batters combined scored 96 runs.

Shiva Singh finished with figures of 0/88 in 9 overs.

Gaikwad also joined an elite list of players who have hit six sixes in an over in professional cricket.

That list includes include Garry Sobers (1968), Ravi Shastri (1985), Herschelle Gibbs (2007), Yuvraj Singh (2007), Ross Whiteley (2017), Hazratullah Zazai (2018), Leo Carter (2020), Kieron Pollard (2021), Thisara Perera (2021) and Jaskaran Malhotra (2021).

The overall record for most sixes in an over is in the name of former New Zealand captain Lee Germon, who hit eight sixes during a First-Class match in Wellington in the 1990 Shell Trophy.