The six-hitting trend has changed dramatically in modern-day cricket. With big bats, small grounds and powerful batsmen, six-hitting is a regular sight. We try to explore some of the memorable instances of six-hitting in ODIs through this article by looking at the top 5 batsmen with most sixes in an ODI innings.
Eoin Morgan (Eng) - 17 sixes
Nasser Hussain, the former England captain hit just one six in his entire One-Day career. This fact very well sums up why England was lacking in white-ball cricket. England’s current captain, Eoin Morgan set out on a mission to transform this team into an aggressive and attacking team. He led from the front during a World Cup game in 2019 against Afghanistan in Manchester. He was in a beast mode as he slammed 17 colossal sixes. This is a world record that will be hard to break. He toyed with the likes of Rashid and Mujeeb, who batsmen around the world find difficult to read. He ended up with 148 runs off just 71 balls and England thrashed Afghanistan by 150 runs.
Rohit Sharma (Ind), Chris Gayle (WI), and AB De Villiers (SA) - 16 sixes
Number 4 on the list is the set of three of the cleanest strikers of the cricket ball. Each of them hit 16 sixes in an innings. Rohit Sharma achieved this feat against Australia in Bangalore in 2013 when he took a good-looking Aussie attack apart and smashed the first of his three double-hundreds in ODIs. That innings was the making of Rohit Sharma, the legendary white-ball batsman.
Chris Gayle achieved this feat against Zimbabwe in the 2015 World Cup, and in the process, the West Indian star became the first West Indian and fourth overall to hit a double-hundred in ODIs. He also stitched a partnership of over 300 for the second wicket with Marlon Samuels which is still a world record.
De Villiers has treated us with some of the finest One-Day Innings ever. His innings of 149 against the West Indies at Jo’Berg in 2015 would be dear to him as he not only slammed 16 massive sixes but also captured the world record for the fastest century in the history of ODIs- of just 31 balls! This record will take ages to be broken.
Shane Watson (Aus) - 15 sixes
Shane Watson, one of the best all-rounders Australia has ever produced was a nightmare for the new-ball bowlers. He gave a good glimpse of his destructive skills at Dhaka against Bangladesh in the 2011 Cricket World Cup as she smashed 15 towering sixes to all parts of the ground. He ended up with 185 not out which is still the highest individual score by an Australian in an ODI. In that innings, he batted with a mind-boggling strike rate of 192.
Corey Anderson (NZ) and Chris Gayle (WI) - 14 sixes
Well, when it comes to six-hitting, one should not be surprised by seeing Chris Gayle more than once in a list as no one hits them as effortlessly as him. He did so against England in St. Lucia in 2019. West Indies were chasing England’s 419 and fell short by the barest of margins but Gayle won everyone’s heart by scoring 162 of just 98 balls which included 14 sixes.
New Zealand’s gun all-rounder Corey Anderson who was at the peak of his prowess in 2014 smashed 14 sixes in an unbelievable innings of 131 against the West Indies. In the process, he scored the fastest ODI hundred ever off just 36 balls, a record broken by De Villers in 2015.
Thisara Perera (SL) - 13 sixes
Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera is believed to have under-achieved with the kind of destructive hitting ability he has. He gave a glimpse of his ability against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui in 2019. New Zealand set Sri Lanka a target of 320 and Sri Lanka crumbled with over 200 runs still to get. That’s when Perera came in and out of nowhere smashed 140 off just 74 balls, hitting 13 massive sixes. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka had too much to do as they fell short by 21 runs.
