Historical

Watch: Herschelle Gibbs becomes first to hit six sixes in an over in international cricket

by Wisden Staff March 16, 2023 - 10:29am 3 minute read

Watch: In the 2007 World Cup, Herschelle Gibbs became the first player in international cricket to hit six sixes in an over.

Billy Stelling had AB de Villiers caught behind with the second ball of the match after Dutch captain Luuk van Troost opted to bowl at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts.

But Graeme Smith (67 in 59 balls) and Jacques Kallis (128 not out in 109) wracked up their runs quickly, and South Africa were 114-2 after 19 overs when Gibbs joined Kallis at the crease.

To their credit, the Dutch bowlers kept South Africa quiet, and after 29 overs, they were 178-2, with Kallis on 75 in 84 balls and Gibbs on a 30-ball 32. Until this point, Daan van Bunge’s leg-breaks had gone for a not-too-bad 20 in three overs.

Now began the fun. When van Bunge tossed up the first ball of the next over on leg-stump, Gibbs stepped out and dispatched it into the stands over long-on.

He hit the next ball flatter, over van Bunge’s head, but it was enough to clear the straight boundary on the small ground. The third ball disappeared over long-off.

The fourth ball was a full-toss, and Gibbs simply stood and launched it over the mid-wicket fence. The fifth ball was shorter and quicker, but Gibbs backed himself to flat-bat it and clear the straight boundary.

With that shot, Gibbs equalled the ODI record of 30 runs in an over held by Sanath Jayasuriya – off Aamer Sohail in 1995/96, and again off Chris Harris in 2000/01.

In all professional cricket, only Garry Sobers and Ravi Shastri had hit six sixes in an over until that point. No one had done it in any format in international cricket.

With van Bunge’s next delivery, Gibbs became the first, pulling a short-pitched ball violently over deep mid-wicket. He eventually fell for a 40-ball 72 before Mark Boucher walked out to slam 75 not out in 31 balls to help South Africa pile 353-3.

Van Bunge finished with figures of 4-0-56-0. Van Troost bowled the last over of the innings in which, aided by five wides, Kallis and Boucher also equalled Jayasuriya’s 30 runs – though that was no longer a world record by that point in the match after Gibbs’ pyrotechnics. The Netherlands fell well short in the chase, finishing on 132-9.

The St Kitts and Nevis government later granted honorary citizenship to Gibbs (and, subsequently, Matthew Hayden, as well) for his world record.