West Indies captain Kieron Pollard became only the second batsman to smash six sixers in an over in a T20I as Sri Lanka’s Akila Dananjaya bore the brunt of the assault in Antigua.
Pollard hammered Dananjaya for 36 runs in the 6th over of the innings to help West Indies win the first T20I by 4 wickets on Thursday. WI needed 132 to win against Sri Lanka, who batted first.
Interestingly, Dananajaya also took a hat-trick in the same match, having dismissed Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran off successive deliveries in the over before he conceded 36.
Pollard, who scored 38 off 11 deliveries, walked into bat after Dananjaya had taken a hat-trick in his previous over. However, the Windies skipper remained unfazed and attacked the Sri Lankan spinner from his very first ball.
He hit Dananjaya all around the park, and after hitting the sixth six of the over, he turned towards the dressing room and bowed to his Windies teammates, as they stood up and applauded the masterclass from their skipper. Both Dananjaya and Pollard were teammates at Mumbai Indians
Before Pollard, India's Yuvraj Singh had been the only player in international T20 to slam six sixes. He achieved the feat during the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, slamming Stuart Broad for 36 runs in an over in a group match.
Overall, Pollard is the third batsman to hit six sixes in an over in international cricket. South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs was the first cricketer to achieve the feat, scoring 36 runs in an over against The Netherlands in the 2007 ODI World Cup.
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