Most Sixes in an ODI Innings
Over the years, the sport of cricket has evolved multi-fold. Started as a 60-over game, it not only reduced to a mere 50-over game but increased the urgency among the fans and players. The players slowly started to shift the gears throughout the innings once they settled in. However, as the years and decades passed on, the players adopted a much faster approach. In the last decade or so, the concept of power-hitting has taken the place of timing and placement. You hit with power without any timing or skill, it is surely going beyond the ropes.
The life of bowlers has become miserable with batsmen coming with different approaches and techniques along with advanced bats. Along with these, the short boundaries have piled up misery on the bowlers. The sixes are flowing like water in current One-Day international games let alone T20s. Here is the list of the top five batsmen with the most sixes in an ODI inning.
1: Eoin Morgan-17 sixes (Strike rate-208.45)
The England skipper, Eoin Morgan takes the first place in the list of top five batsmen with most sixes in an ODI inning. The batsman clobbered 17 sixes in the game against Afghanistan in ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The year 2019 was kind enough for the batsman as he not only scored runs but also lifted the cup with his national team.
Against Afghanistan, the player went berserk with 71 balls 148 runs inning at Manchester. The player hit the most known and effective bowler of Afghanistan, Rashid Khan for 11 sixes. The innings helped England to register a mammoth 150-run victory in ICC CWC 2019.
2: AB de Villiers-16 sixes (Strike rate-338.63)
The second place in the list of top five batsmen with most sixes in an ODI Inning goes to AB de Villiers of South Africa. The Protea international gave West Indies a nightmare at Johannesberg in a bilateral series. AB de Villiers came to the crease in the 39th over and started sending the ball in every direction from the word go. The player went on to score 149 from 44 deliveries which included 16 sixes and nine fours.
3: Chris Gayle-16 sixes (Strike rate-146.25)
The West Indian giant is always a threat to opposition even if he is going through a bad patch. And when he is in fine nick, the bowlers dare to bowl him. The same case happened when Zimbabwe was up against the Caribbean side in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. Despite losing Dwayne Smith early in the first over, Chris Gayle was hitting the deliveries relentlessly. The West Indian international scored a double century in the game and was dismissed on the final delivery. The inning included 16 sixes and 10 fours.
4: Rohit Sharma- 16 sixes (Strike rate-132.37)
One of the finest batsmen of modern-day cricket, Rohit Sharma holds several records. He also stands fourth in the list of top five batsmen with most sixes in an ODI inning. The player has three double centuries to his name and his inning against Australia in Bengaluru was phenomenal. Utilizing the shorter boundaries at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Rohit Sharma struck 16 sixes and garnered a double century. The inning helped India to mount a daunting 383 runs on board in the seventh ODI of the bilateral series.
5: Shane Watson-15 sixes (Strike rate-192.27)
The Australian all-rounder recently retired from international cricket and was the only active player from the 2007 ICC CWC winning side. The player takes the final and fifth spot in the list of top five batsmen with most sixes in an ODI inning. He scored 15 sixes in an inning against Bangladesh in Dhaka. Shane Watson remained not out at 185 from 96 deliveries and guided Australia to a huge victory with 144 deliveries remaining.
(Corey Anderson and Chris Gayle also hold the record of 14 sixes in a single innings and Thisara Perera has clobbered 13 sixes in a game against New Zealand. AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, and Rohit Sharma are assigned the spots based on their strike rate in the innings.)
