Watch: “He’s on the driving range here” – Carlos Brathwaite slammed West Indies teammate Andre Russell for four sixes in one over in the Abu Dhabi T10 League.
Drawing obvious parallels to his consecutive six-hitting blitz in the 2016 T20 World Cup final, Brathwaite repeatedly scythed Russell over the boundary for the Chennai Braves, in their T10 League match against Deccan Gladiators. Chasing 109 to win, the Braves still needed 66 in six overs when Brathwaite faced up to his first ball, the second of Russell’s over.
He dispatched the straight, low full-toss that Russell served straight down the ground, backing away and exposing all three stumps to thump the ball back over the bowler’s head and over the rope.
After leaving alone a wide delivery next up, Brathwaite once again backed away to the leg side to a slower ball on leg-stump, carving the ball over the mid-wicket fence, prompting Danny Morrison on commentary to exclaim “he’s on the driving range here, is Carlos Brathwaite.”
But Brathwaite was not done yet. As Russell dragged back his length the next ball, he once again hit over mid-wicket, this time pulling a shoulder-height ball for another six. His final six of the over came courtesy of a leg-stump full toss: he backed away from the wicket for the fourth time in the over to hit over Russell’s head yet again. The shot just had enough power on it for the ball to crash into the boundary rope on the full, and bring up a third consecutive six.
Having already conceded 26 runs off the first five balls, Russell bowled another full-toss. This time Braithwaite settled for an easy two in an anticlimactic end to his boundary blitz.
There was relief for the Gladiators in the next over as Braithwaite misjudged an attempt. Trying to make room for a cut, he managed to chop a length ball from Zahoor Khan onto his stumps. Brathwaite’s innings had only lasted seven balls but produced 27 runs, which revitalised his side’s chances of victory.
The Braves went on to win the match by six wickets with three balls to spare.