Over the weekend, Leo Carter became only the seventh man in history to smash six sixes in an over in top class cricket.
The Canterbury batsman managed the feat playing against Northern District in the domestic Super Smash T20 league, with former Kiwi international left-armed spinner Anton Devcich the unfortunate bowler at the other end. The 25 year old is the first New Zealander to join the small club of men who have reached the milestone, and the fourth to do so playing Twenty20 cricket.
Carter’s big moment came in the 16th over of the innings, as his side successfully chased down a target of 220, in itself a record run chase in domestic T20 cricket in New Zealand. Carter went on to finish 70 not out off 29 balls.
Six other men have previously achieved the feat, which was first managed by the great Sir Gary Sobers, playing in a county match for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan in 1968.
The first Indian to do so was Ravi Shastri in 1984, whose innings came for Bombay playing against Baroda. It was another 23 years before somebody did it again, this time the South African Herschelle Gibbs against the Netherlands.
As far as Indian cricket fans, perhaps the most memorable of all such innings came later than same year in Durban, when India were taking on England in the Super Eights T20 competition. Yuvraj Singh, 25 years old at the time, had just hit two consecutive balls in the 18th over, when he appeared to clash with England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.
Fired up he took his anger out on Flintoff’s team mate Stuart Broad, planting the first five balls of his 19th over for six, before leaning back and smashing the last ball over wide mid-on to complete his maximum.
It was sweet retribution for Yuvraj, who earlier that month, had gone for 5 sixes himself in a single over, with England all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas doing the hitting in a one day match at the Oval.
Prior to Carter, two other men have managed the feat – Ross Whiteley playing for Worcestershire against Yorkshire, and, last year, the Afghan Hazratullah Zazai for Kabul Zwanen against Balkh Legends, both in T20 competitions.
