6 Ball 6 Sixes Record List in International Cricket

The 6 ball 6 sixes record list in international cricket begins with Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa. He hit all six legal deliveries for six against Netherlands bowler Daan van Bunge on 16 March 2007 at the ICC Cricket World Cup in St Kitts.[3] The event was the first independently corroborated international case in the evidence set used for this guide.

Who was the first player to hit 6 sixes in an over in international cricket?
South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs, against Netherlands bowler Daan van Bunge at the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup on 16 March 2007.[3]

The table preserves the wider reported international list of eight men. Six cases are independently corroborated as six legal-ball sixes; five are clean physical-ball overs, Bhurtel has a wide, Visser has a dot and no-ball six, and Bashir’s ICC listing remains unreconciled with accessible ball-by-ball detail.[13] [15] [16]

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Complete 6 Ball 6 Sixes Record List in International Cricket

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Gibbs remains the only verified player in this set to hit the sequence in an ODI World Cup match. Malhotra is also an ODI case, so it is not correct to call Gibbs the only ODI batter to have done it. The international table is a verified selection at the stated cut-off, not a claim that every historical scorecard worldwide has been exhaustively audited. The Gibbs profile and Yuvraj profile explain the two earliest format milestones.

What Is the 6 Ball 6 Sixes Record?

The simple version is six sixes from the six legal deliveries of one over. Six legal boundary hits give the familiar clean total of 36 runs. Cricket’s law normally defines an over as six valid balls; a no-ball or wide does not count as one of those valid balls.[1]

That creates three useful descriptions:

1. Six physical deliveries, all sixes: the cleanest version, with no intervening wide or no-ball.
2. Six legal deliveries, all sixes: a wide or no-ball adds a physical delivery, but the six legal balls are still all hit for six. Kushal Bhurtel belongs here: his wide made the over seven deliveries and 37 runs.[18]
3. Six boundary hits in a high-scoring over: a legal dot or a six off a no-ball can prevent the strict pass. Darius Visser’s 39-run over belongs here.[13] [14]

That is why “36 runs in an over” and “six sixes in an over” are not interchangeable. Six sixes guarantee 36 batter runs from those six boundary hits, but extras and boundary or overthrow rules can make the over total higher.[2] Bhurtel reached 37 with a wide. Visser reached 39 through three no-balls. Ruturaj Gaikwad reached 43 with a no-ball six and seven sixes.[25]

International, first-class, List A, domestic T20 and franchise T20 are separate statistical pools. Sir Garfield Sobers and Ravi Shastri completed earlier first-class versions, while Ross Whiteley and Hazratullah Zazai are domestic or franchise examples.[19]

Eight names are reported at the cut-off. Six are independently corroborated as six legal-ball sixes: Gibbs, Yuvraj, Pollard, Malhotra, Airee and Bhurtel. Five are clean physical-ball cases; Bhurtel has the extra wide. Visser is not a six-legal-ball sequence, while Bashir is ICC-listed but unresolved in accessible detailed notation.

Who Was the First Player to Hit 6 Sixes in an Over in International Cricket?

Herschelle Gibbs — First in International Cricket

Herschelle Gibbs was the first player in the verified international record list. On 16 March 2007, South Africa faced the Netherlands in a rain-reduced 40-over World Cup match at Warner Park, Basseterre. Gibbs attacked Daan van Bunge in the 30th over of South Africa’s innings and hit six legal deliveries for six.[3] [4]

The scorecard notation is 29.1 through 29.6, which is the 30th over when overs are counted from one. The sequence was unusually consistent in its outcome but not in its placement: long-on, long-off, long-off, deep midwicket, wide long-off and deep midwicket. The contemporary account identifies the sixes as six legal balls; the reported directions are taken from its delivery descriptions, not inferred from the scorecard.[26]

Ball-by-Ball Summary of Gibbs’ Over

The contemporary ESPNcricinfo account gives the following sequence. Ball labels 29.1–29.6 belong to the innings’ 30th over.[26]

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Gibbs finished with 72 from 40 balls, including seven sixes and four fours, while South Africa made 353/3 in 40 overs. The seventh innings six was outside the record over. That distinction is important: the over produced 36, while his whole innings produced a different boundary count and strike rate.

The historical importance is precise. Gibbs was the first independently corroborated international batter to complete the sequence, and he remains the only verified ODI World Cup example in this checked list. He was not, however, the only ODI batter: Jaskaran Malhotra repeated the feat in a separate ODI in 2021. The accurate description is “first in international cricket” and “first in an ODI World Cup match,” not “only ODI player ever.”

6 Ball 6 Sixes Player Name List

The eight reported names need status labels. The first five clean cases establish the pattern. Bhurtel shows how a law-based version can include a wide; Visser and Bashir show why a headline list can be wider than a strict sequence list.

Yuvraj Singh — First in T20 International Cricket

Yuvraj Singh became the first T20I batter to hit six sixes in an over against England at Kingsmead on 19 September 2007. Stuart Broad bowled the 19th over of India’s innings; it was a death over, not the powerplay.[5] [6]

Yuvraj finished with 58 from 16 balls, including seven sixes. The famous 12-ball fifty was a separate milestone. One innings six was outside the record over, just as Gibbs had an additional six outside his sequence. Yuvraj was the second international player to complete the clean version and the first in T20I cricket.

Kieron Pollard — West Indies Power-Hitter

On 3 March 2021, Kieron Pollard hit Akila Dananjaya for six consecutive legal sixes at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.[7] [8] Dananjaya had taken a hat-trick earlier in the match, making Pollard’s response especially dramatic.

West Indies reached 134/6 in 13.1 overs while chasing Sri Lanka’s 131/9. Pollard made 38 from 11 balls, all six of his boundary-scoring shots being sixes. Jason Holder’s separate six was separate and is not part of Pollard’s record. Pollard became the third international batter and first West Indian to complete the clean sequence.

Jaskaran Malhotra — First Associate-Nation ODI Player

Jaskaran Malhotra hit six legal-ball sixes against Papua New Guinea’s Gaudi Toka on 9 September 2021. The final over of the bilateral ODI at Al Amerat Ministry Turf 2 moved USA from 235 to 271/9.[9] [10]

Malhotra finished 173 not out from 124 balls with 16 sixes. This was a separate USA–PNG bilateral ODI in Oman; the United States were preparing for World Cup League 2, but the match was not itself a League 2 fixture. Malhotra supplied the first clean ODI repeat after Gibbs and the first associate-nation ODI case in the checked list.

Dipendra Singh Airee — Nepal’s Historic Moment

Dipendra Singh Airee hit six consecutive legal sixes from Kamran Khan in Nepal’s final over against Qatar on 13 April 2024. The T20I was played at Al Amerat Ministry Turf 1 in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup.[11] [12]

Nepal moved from 174/7 to 210/7; Airee finished 64 not out from 21 balls and Nepal won by 32 runs. This is the clean one-over case. Do not replace it with Airee’s separate 2023 Mongolia episode, which crossed two overs and nine balls.

Darius Visser — Six Sixes, but Not Six Legal-Ball Sixes

Darius Visser’s 20 August 2024 over for Samoa produced 39 runs against Vanuatu’s Nalin Nipiko, but it fails the strict sequence test.[13] [14] The nine-delivery construction included three no-balls and a legal dot; at least one six came off a no-ball.

Visser still scored 132 from 62 balls, with 14 sixes and five fours, as Samoa won by 10 runs. The accurate label is six boundary hits in a record 39-run international over, not six consecutive legal-ball sixes.

Manan Bashir — ICC-Listed; Sequence Uncertain

An ICC retrospective lists Manan Bashir among international six-sixes batters after Bulgaria played Gibraltar on 11 July 2025. Bashir made 70 from 21 balls with nine sixes.[15]

The accessible detailed Cricinfo notation does not reconcile into six consecutive legal deliveries: it lists sixes at 12.3–12.6 and 13.2–13.3 with a single at 13.1.[16] Do not invent a bowler, over number, over total or shot sequence. Bashir is retained as ICC-listed; sequence uncertain, not as a confirmed strict case.

Kushal Bhurtel — Six Legal-Ball Sixes Plus a Wide

Kushal Bhurtel hit six legal-ball sixes for Nepal against China on 31 May 2026. Chen Zhuo Yue bowled the ninth over at the Singapore National Cricket Ground, and the sequence was six, six, six, six, six, wide, six.[15] [18]

The wide did not count as a legal ball, so the over had seven physical deliveries and was worth 37: 36 batter runs plus one wide. Bhurtel made 129 from 43 balls as Nepal scored 313/2 and won by 221 runs. This is a legal-ball pass but not a clean six-physical-ball or 36-run over.

6 Ball 6 Six Record List in International Match: Format-Wise Breakdown

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The checked set has five clean physical-six-ball cases: Gibbs and Malhotra in ODIs, plus Yuvraj, Pollard and Airee in T20Is. Bhurtel supplies a sixth legal-ball pass with a wide.

ODI cricket can produce the feat late in an innings, as Gibbs and Malhotra did. T20I creates more short-format attacking situations, but still requires six legal deliveries and execution under pressure. The format raises opportunity, not a pass on legality.

The table does not say a Test case is impossible: no verified Test example was located in the checked source set. No verified women’s case was located either, which is a coverage qualification, not proof of universal absence.

Verified Six-Sixes Examples in Professional Cricket

International cricket is only one level of the record. The professional archive also contains first-class, List A, domestic T20 and franchise T20 examples. The eight verified non-international cases below are a selection from the evidence set, not an exhaustive worldwide archive.

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Sobers’ 1968 first-class over for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan and Shastri’s 1985 Bombay–Baroda over predate Gibbs, but neither is an international record. Whiteley and Zazai show the wide distinction; Carter is a domestic T20 clean case, and Perera’s 2021 List A over is a recognized senior limited-overs example.[19] [20] [21] [22]

Gaikwad’s 2022 over included a no-ball six, seven physical deliveries and reached 43; all six legal balls were sixes. Arya’s Delhi Premier League performance belongs in a professional domestic section, not an official T20I table; ESPN carries a classification caveat for the DPL numbers.[17] Lower-level, shared-batter and five-sixes claims are excluded rather than silently promoted.

Six Sixes in an Over: Key Rules and Record Conditions

The core condition is straightforward: one batter must hit six legal deliveries in the same over for six. The normal over has six valid balls; wides and no-balls do not count as valid deliveries.[1] A no-ball or wide can extend an over, which is why a law-based count can accept six legal-ball sixes even when the physical-delivery count is seven or more.

The most useful record labels are therefore:

• Clean six-physical-ball case: six deliveries, no intervening wide or no-ball, all sixes.
• Extended six-legal-ball case: six legal deliveries are sixes, but a wide or no-ball adds a delivery.
• Six-six headline without strict pass: sixes appear in the over, but a dot or a six off a no-ball prevents six legal deliveries all being sixes.
• Unresolved official listing: an official source reports the event, but accessible detailed notation does not permit a safe reconstruction.

The bowler is ordinarily the same for all deliveries in an over, and the sixes must belong to one batter. That last point rules out an over in which two batters share the sixes. It also rules out treating a batter’s six sixes across two overs as the same record. Airee’s separate 2023 Mongolia episode is not substituted for his clean Qatar case because the event crossed overs and nine balls.

The legal definition of a boundary six also matters. MCC’s boundary law describes the normal six as a ball hit by the bat that first grounds beyond the boundary without first grounding inside.[2] Overthrows and extras can alter the over total. Thus, 36 is the clean total for six batter sixes, not a universal maximum for every sequence of legal events.

Statisticians separate international, first-class, List A and franchise records because the competitions have different schedules, eligibility rules and record authorities. A first-class milestone can precede an international milestone without being the same category. A DPL performance can be a genuine domestic six-sixes event while remaining outside official T20 statistical classification.

Why Is Six Sixes in an Over So Rare?

A batter needs six successful decisions in a row. The bowler can change pace, line and length after the first six. Fielders can move to the boundary. The batter still has to time the next ball well enough to clear the rope, not merely find a gap. One mistimed shot, one legal dot or one well-executed defensive ball ends the clean sequence.

Bowling plans usually become more conservative after the first big hit. A bowler may try a wide yorker, a slower ball, a fuller ball outside the hitting arc or a change of angle. The batter’s task becomes harder because the bowler no longer offers the same length by accident. A record over often combines a batter already set at the crease with a bowler who cannot find the desired line for six consecutive legal deliveries.

The field is part of the calculation. A batter can target the shorter side or hit over the ring, while boundary riders tell the bowler where not to bowl. The sequence needs access to a scoring arc and enough power to overcome protection.

The innings situation changes the risk. Yuvraj’s was the 19th over of a T20I innings, when India had the license to attack. Pollard’s came while West Indies were rebuilding a chase after early wickets. Malhotra struck in the final ODI over; Gibbs’ burst came in the 30th over of a shortened 40-over innings. These are not identical match conditions, but each created a reason for the batter to keep attacking rather than reset after one six.

Short formats make attempts more visible, but not routine. For broader batting context, see CricWin24’s most dangerous batsmen in the world. Rarity comes from opportunity, power, placement, bowling error and repeatable execution.

Famous Near Misses: 35 or More Runs in an Over

A high-scoring over is not automatically a six-sixes over. Thisara Perera’s 2013 performance against Robin Peterson is a clear near-miss. The over made 35, but its construction included four initial sixes, a one-bounce four and a final six, with a wide somewhere in the sequence. That is five sixes and a four, plus a wide—not six legal-ball sixes.[23]

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This 2013 Perera near-miss is not the same as his clean 2021 List A six-sixes over. The Bumrah–Broad over is a particularly useful warning against headline arithmetic. The complete Test over totalled 35, but the bat contribution was 29 and the over contained two sixes, one off a no-ball, alongside fours, a single and wides.[24] It was a record expensive Test over in the cited report, not a six-sixes over.

These near-misses show why the clean baseline and the maximum-over-total question should be separated. Thirty-six is the sum of six sixes. Thirty-five can be a spectacular mixed over. Thirty-seven, 39 and 43 can include extras or no-balls. A high total alone does not identify the record.

Impact of Six Sixes on Cricket History

Gibbs gave international cricket its first documented six-sixes over and made power-hitting a World Cup historical marker. The significance is the repeatable delivery sequence, not merely a large innings total. Yuvraj then supplied T20I cricket’s first signature example in the inaugural World Twenty20, with a 19th-over assault that became part of the format’s identity.

Pollard’s 2021 over, immediately after Dananjaya’s hat-trick, illustrated the modern finisher’s role. Malhotra, Airee and Bhurtel extended the record across associate-nation contexts: the United States in ODI cricket and Nepal in T20I cricket. Visser’s 39-run over, while not a clean pass, also shows why delivery-level qualifications matter as international cricket’s record stories broaden.

The historical change is not that six sixes are routine. It is that batting depth, specialist finishing roles and white-ball scoring incentives create more situations in which attempting the sequence is tactically sensible. The exact record still depends on the balls, not the highlight headline.

6 Ball 6 Sixes in IPL and Franchise Cricket

The IPL and other franchise leagues should be kept separate from the international table. This checked record set verifies domestic and franchise examples such as Whiteley and Zazai, but it does not establish a universal current IPL absence or a complete franchise-world ranking. A claim about a specific IPL player should be tied to that match’s scorecard and competition classification rather than inferred from the international list.

Franchise T20 creates many opportunity conditions: short innings, aggressive batting orders, specialist death hitters and a willingness to attack from the first ball. Those conditions can produce six-heavy overs. They also make the legality distinction more important because a wide or no-ball can turn a six-ball-looking highlight into a seven-delivery over.

The safe way to answer an IPL search is to separate three questions. Did one batter hit six legal deliveries for six? Was there an extra delivery? Was the competition officially an IPL match, another franchise league or a domestic T20? The international record list cannot answer those questions by itself.

For related CricWin24 reading, the IPL analysis hub provides the franchise context, while the longest sixes in international cricket page covers a different measurement: distance, not six consecutive legal deliveries. Those topics are related, but they should not be merged into one record category.

Records Related to Six Sixes in an Over

Several nearby records are easy to confuse with this one. An over of 36 from six balls has an over-level strike rate of 600.00: (36 ÷ 6) × 100 = 600.00. That is not an innings strike rate. Using the cited scores, Gibbs’ innings rate was 180.00, Yuvraj’s 362.50, Pollard’s 345.45 and Bhurtel’s 300.00.

The over record is not the same as most sixes in an innings. The verified cases have different innings counts: Gibbs and Yuvraj hit seven each, Pollard six, Malhotra 16, Airee six, Visser 14 and Bhurtel 16. The over identifies one event; the innings count covers the whole innings.

Bumrah–Broad’s Test over reached 35 with mixed scoring and extras, while Visser reached 39 with no-balls and a dot. Gaikwad reached 43 with a no-ball six. A “fastest 36” claim would need a defined elapsed-time method, which is not established in this evidence set, so no universal fastest record is asserted.

Comparison: Gibbs vs Yuvraj vs Pollard

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Gibbs’ over has the earliest date and the World Cup setting. It was a rain-reduced ODI innings, and his sixes came in the 30th over. Yuvraj’s came six months later in the 19th over of a T20I, making him the first in the newer format rather than the first in international cricket overall. Pollard’s arrived in 2021 and carried the extra narrative of following Dananjaya’s hat-trick.

Their innings numbers also caution against reducing the players to one identical profile. Gibbs made 72 from 40, Yuvraj 58 from 16 and Pollard 38 from 11. The common item is not innings length, total score or strike rate. It is six legal deliveries in one over, with no extra in the clean cases.

The comparison also corrects two common search errors. Yuvraj’s over was not in the powerplay; it was the 19th, or death, over. Jason Holder’s separate six must not be added to Pollard’s six-ball sequence. Record comparisons work only when the event boundary remains intact.

How Bowlers Try to Prevent Six Sixes

A bowler trying to prevent the sequence usually changes the batter’s preferred contact point. A wide yorker can deny a full swing. A slower ball can disrupt timing. A back-of-the-hand variation can change the release and bounce. Bowling outside off stump can force the batter to reach away from the body, while a ball taken into the body can remove the clean arc through the leg side.

Field placement supports the plan. Boundary riders can protect the batter’s strongest side, and the bowler can use the opposite side of the crease or a different angle. The aim is not always a wicket; a dot, a single or a mistimed two is enough to end a six-ball run.

The challenge is execution. A wide yorker that misses becomes a wide, and a slower ball that lands in the hitting slot can be easier to launch. Once a batter is set, the margin between a planned variation and a hittable error becomes small. The record cases do not prove that one bowling tactic always fails; they show what happens when the bowler cannot execute a varied plan for six legal deliveries.

Future of the Six Sixes Record

More international T20Is, associate-nation fixtures, deeper batting orders and specialist late-innings roles create more opportunities for attempts. These are structural conditions, not a prediction about a specific future player.

Future reports should show physical deliveries and legal deliveries separately. A headline may say “six sixes,” while the scorecard reveals a wide, no-ball, dot or unresolved notation. Clean cases, extended legal-ball overs and near-misses should remain labelled separately. This article makes no automatic-update promise and does not predict a future record-holder. Match forecasting belongs in the cricket match prediction hub, not in this verified record list.

Key Takeaways

• Herschelle Gibbs was the first independently corroborated player to hit six sixes in an international over, against Daan van Bunge on 16 March 2007.[3]
• The checked international table has eight reported names, but only six independently corroborated six-legal-ball-six cases: Gibbs, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Jaskaran Malhotra, Dipendra Singh Airee and Kushal Bhurtel.
• Five of those six are clean six-physical-ball cases. Bhurtel hit six legal-ball sixes plus a wide, making 37 runs from seven physical deliveries.[15] [18]
• Darius Visser’s 39-run over included a legal dot and a six off a no-ball, while Manan Bashir is ICC-listed with the sequence unresolved.[13] [15] [16]
• Thirty-six is the clean six-sixes baseline, not an absolute legal maximum for every over because extras and overthrows can add runs.[2]
• The list is a verified selection at the 15 October 2026 cut-off, not an exhaustive worldwide archive of every international, women’s, Test or IPL record.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was the first player to hit 6 sixes in an over in international cricket?

Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa was the first independently corroborated player to hit six sixes in an over in international cricket. He did it against Netherlands bowler Daan van Bunge during the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup on 16 March 2007.[3]

How many players have hit 6 sixes in an over in international cricket?

Eight names are reported in the checked international record set: Herschelle Gibbs, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Jaskaran Malhotra, Dipendra Singh Airee, Darius Visser, Manan Bashir and Kushal Bhurtel. Six are independently corroborated as six legal-ball-six cases; Visser fails that strict test and Bashir’s sequence remains uncertain.

Who hit 6 sixes in 6 balls first?

Herschelle Gibbs was the first independently corroborated international player to hit six sixes from six legal balls. Sir Garfield Sobers had earlier hit six sixes in a first-class over in 1968, so “first in international cricket” and “first in professional cricket” are different claims.[3] [19]

Who hit six sixes in an over in the ODI World Cup?

Herschelle Gibbs hit six legal-ball sixes against the Netherlands in the 2007 ODI World Cup. He remains the only verified example in the checked list from an ODI World Cup match.[3] [4]

Who was the first player to hit six sixes in a T20 International?

Yuvraj Singh was the first independently corroborated player to hit six sixes in a T20 International. He did it against England’s Stuart Broad during the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 in Durban.[5] [6]

Which bowler was hit for six sixes by Yuvraj Singh?

England’s Stuart Broad was hit for six legal-ball sixes by Yuvraj Singh in the 2007 T20 World Cup match at Kingsmead, Durban.[5] [6]

Which bowler was hit for six sixes by Herschelle Gibbs?

Netherlands leg-spinner Daan van Bunge was hit for six legal-ball sixes by Herschelle Gibbs in the 2007 World Cup match at Warner Park.[3] [4]

Has anyone hit six sixes in an over in Test cricket?

No verified Test example was located in the checked evidence set. That is a qualified source-set finding, not an exhaustive universal claim that every historical Test record has been audited.

How many runs are scored when a batter hits 6 sixes in an over?

A batter scores 36 runs from six legal deliveries if each delivery is hit for six. Extras can increase the over total, so the over can be worth 37, 39 or more while the six boundary hits still contribute 36 batter runs.[1] [2]

Who hit 6 sixes in an over in IPL?

The evidence used for this article does not establish a universal current IPL answer. IPL and other franchise records must be checked separately by match, competition and delivery sequence; they should not be mixed into the international table.

Did Garfield Sobers hit six sixes in international cricket?

No. Garfield Sobers hit six sixes in a first-class over for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan in 1968, not in an international match.[19]

Did Ravi Shastri hit six sixes in an international match?

No. Ravi Shastri hit six sixes in a first-class Ranji Trophy match for Bombay against Baroda in 1985. His feat was not in international cricket.[19] [20]

Who was the first associate-nation player to hit six sixes in an ODI?

Jaskaran Malhotra of the United States was the first associate-nation player in the checked record set to hit six legal-ball sixes in an ODI over. He did it against Papua New Guinea’s Gaudi Toka in 2021.[9] [10]

Which Nepali player hit six sixes in an over?

Both Dipendra Singh Airee and Kushal Bhurtel have verified international cases in the checked list. Airee hit six clean legal-ball sixes against Qatar in 2024; Bhurtel hit six legal-ball sixes plus a wide against China in 2026.[11] [15] [18]

Why is six sixes in an over so rare?

The batter must hit every legal delivery for six against the same bowler. Bowlers can change pace, line and length, fielders can protect the boundary and one dot or mistimed shot ends a clean sequence. The record has appeared more often in white-ball cricket because aggressive batting creates more attempts, but the legality and execution requirements remain severe.