Tim Southee hit three consecutive sixes off Zulfiqar Babar to reach the coveted landmark of 50 Test sixes, during the ongoing second Test match between Pakistan and New Zealand at Dubai. Abhishek Mukherjee digs out data related to the records he has touched.
Tim Southee hit three humongous sixes off consecutive balls off Zulfiqar Babar before holing out to Azhar Ali at deep cover. In the process he also became the 30th batsman to hit 50 Test sixes. Adam Gilchrist, of course, is the only member of the 100 Test-sixes club.
Southee also became the fourth New Zealand batsman to reach the landmark after Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan, and his captain Brendon McCullum. Below is the list of the most prolific six-hitters in the history of Test cricket:
Batsmen with 50 or more sixes in Test cricket:
Player
M
I
R
Ave
6s
6s/I
% Runs in 6s
Adam Gilchrist
96
137
5570
47.6
100
0.73
10.77%
Chris Gayle
103
182
7214
42.18
98
0.54
8.15%
Jacques Kallis
166
280
13289
55.37
97
0.35
4.38%
Virender Sehwag
104
180
8586
49.34
91
0.51
6.36%
Brian Lara
131
232
11953
52.88
88
0.38
4.42%
Chris Cairns
62
104
3320
33.53
87
0.84
15.72%
Viv Richards
121
182
8540
50.23
84
0.46
5.90%
Andrew Flintoff
79
130
3845
31.77
82
0.63
12.80%
Matthew Hayden
103
184
8625
50.73
82
0.45
5.70%
Kevin Pietersen
104
181
8181
47.28
81
0.45
5.94%
MS Dhoni
88
140
4808
38.46
78
0.56
9.73%
Ricky Ponting
168
287
13378
51.85
73
0.25
3.27%
Clive Lloyd
110
175
7515
46.67
70
0.4
5.59%
Brendon McCullum
89
155
5451
37.08
70
0.45
7.71%
Sachin Tendulkar
200
329
15921
53.78
69
0.21
2.60%
Ian Botham
102
161
5200
33.54
67
0.42
7.73%
Gordon Greenidge
108
185
7558
44.72
67
0.36
5.32%
Carl Hooper
102
173
5762
36.46
63
0.36
6.56%
Mahela Jayawardene
149
252
11814
49.84
61
0.24
3.10%
Kapil Dev
131
184
5248
31.05
61
0.33
6.97%
Sanath Jayasuriya
110
188
6973
40.07
59
0.31
5.08%
Sourav Ganguly
113
188
7212
42.17
57
0.3
4.74%
Wasim Akram
104
147
2898
22.64
57
0.39
11.80%
Imran Khan
88
126
3807
37.69
55
0.44
8.67%
Craig McMillan
55
91
3116
38.46
54
0.59
10.40%
Shahid Afridi
27
48
1716
36.51
52
1.08
18.18%
Younis Khan
95
169
8278
54.1
52
0.31
3.77%
Mohammad Yousuf
90
156
7530
52.29
51
0.33
4.06%
AB de Villiers
95
159
7296
51.02
50
0.31
4.11%
Tim Southee
36
60
959
17.75
50
0.83
31.28%
As is evident (and perhaps expected), Shahid Afridi is the only one with more sixes (52) than innings (48), though Southee, with 50 sixes from 60 innings, is not too far behind (with only Cairns in between). Let us look at the top ten batsmen from the aforementioned list, in terms of sixes per innings:
Batsmen with most sixes per innings in Test cricket (qualification: 50 sixes):
Player
M
I
R
Ave
6s
6s/I
% Runs in 6s
Shahid Afridi
27
48
1716
36.51
52
1.08
18.18%
Chris Cairns
62
104
3320
33.53
87
0.84
15.72%
Tim Southee
36
60
959
17.75
50
0.83
31.28%
Adam Gilchrist
96
137
5570
47.60
100
0.73
10.77%
Andrew Flintoff
79
130
3845
31.77
82
0.63
12.80%
Craig McMillan
55
91
3116
38.46
54
0.59
10.40%
MS Dhoni
88
140
4808
38.46
78
0.56
9.73%
Chris Gayle
103
182
7214
42.18
98
0.54
8.15%
Virender Sehwag
104
180
8586
49.34
91
0.51
6.36%
Viv Richards
121
182
8540
50.23
84
0.46
5.90%
Batsmen with highest percentage of Test runs scored in sixes (qualification: 50 sixes):
The astonishing fact about Southee’s tally is that over 30% of his runs have come in sixes. No one else — even Afridi or Cairns — has managed to go past the 20%-mark.
Player
M
I
R
Ave
6s
6s/I
% Runs in 6s
Tim Southee
36
60
959
17.75
50
0.83
31.28%
Shahid Afridi
27
48
1716
36.51
52
1.08
18.18%
Chris Cairns
62
104
3320
33.53
87
0.84
15.72%
Andrew Flintoff
79
130
3845
31.77
82
0.63
12.80%
Wasim Akram
104
147
2898
22.64
57
0.39
11.80%
Adam Gilchrist
96
137
5570
47.60
100
0.73
10.77%
Craig McMillan
55
91
3116
38.46
54
0.59
10.40%
MS Dhoni
88
140
4808
38.46
78
0.56
9.73%
Imran Khan
88
126
3807
37.69
55
0.44
8.67%
Chris Gayle
103
182
7214
42.18
98
0.54
8.15%
It is to be noted that Southee leads the way (by a long distance) for batsmen without a Test fifty…
Most Test sixes for batsmen without a fifty:
Player
M
I
R
Ave
6s
6s/I
% Runs in 6s
Tim Southee
36
60
959
17.75
50
0.83
31.28%
Shane Warne
145
199
3154
17.32
37
0.19
7.04%
Michael Holding
60
76
910
13.78
36
0.47
23.74%
Muttiah Muralitharan
133
164
1261
11.67
29
0.18
13.80%
Lance Cairns
43
65
928
16.28
28
0.43
18.10%
… or those who have not scored a thousand Test runs. Do note the presence of Lance Cairns, who was at least as much a biffer as his son.
Most Test sixes for batsmen without a thousand runs:
Player
M
I
R
Ave
6s
6s/I
% Runs in 6s
Tim Southee
36
60
959
17.75
50
0.83
31.28%
Michael Holding
60
76
910
13.78
36
0.47
23.74%
Lance Cairns
43
65
928
16.28
28
0.43
18.10%
Fred Trueman
67
85
981
13.81
25
0.29
15.29%
Andy Blignaut
19
36
886
26.84
23
0.64
15.58%
(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor and Cricket Historian at CricketCountry. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)
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