On this day in 2021, Kieron Pollard made history by hitting six sixes in one over during the first T20I match against Sri Lanka at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. He became only the third player ever to do this in international cricket, joining Herschelle Gibbs and Yuvraj Singh. Pollard’s amazing achievement was even more exciting since it happened right after Sri Lankan spinner Akila Dananjaya took a hat-trick in his last over, dismissing three West Indies players in a row.
Sri Lanka batted first and scored 131 runs for 9 wickets in 20 overs. Pathum Nissanka was their best player, scoring 39 runs. The West Indies bowlers, especially Obed McCoy, who took 2 wickets for 25 runs, did a good job keeping the Sri Lankan batting under control.
The West Indies started strong, with openers Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons putting up 52 runs in just 19 balls. Lewis scored 28 runs, and Simmons added 26. But then, Dananjaya changed the game with a stunning hat-trick in the fourth over, taking out Lewis, Chris Gayle, and Nicholas Pooran in consecutive deliveries. Suddenly, the West Indies went from a great position at 52 without losing a wicket to 52 for 3.
Pollard didn’t let this faze him. In the sixth over, he faced Dananjaya and unleashed a fierce attack. He hit six sixes in that over! He started with a powerful shot over midwicket, followed by another huge hit straight over the sightscreen. Then he blasted one over long-off, and the next sailed over wide long-on. Even with one hand off the bat, he sent the fifth ball flying over the leg-side boundary. Finally, he flicked the last ball over deep midwicket.
This incredible display made Pollard part of an elite group, being only the third batsman to hit six sixes in an over in international cricket and the second in T20 matches. Earlier, Herschelle Gibbs did it in the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup against the Netherlands, and Yuvraj Singh did it in the first-ever ICC World T20 against England the same year.
Pollard scored a rapid 38 runs off just 11 balls, turning the game back in favor of the West Indies. Although he got out soon after, Jason Holder helped secure the win by scoring 29 not out, finishing the chase at 134 for 6 in just 13.1 overs, hitting the winning six.
“I just had to come out and back myself. It was something the team needed. I didn’t see the hat-trick, I only heard. But I still had to come out and do what the team required at that point in time. After the third six, I felt it was possible. I went for it and it paid off,” Pollard said after his amazing performance. For Sri Lanka, it was a wild game, filled with excitement from Dananjaya’s hat-trick to the disappointment of giving up six sixes in two overs.
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