Record 34 sixes hit in one-ball win for Trinbago Knight Riders in Caribbean Premier League

Thursday’s Caribbean Premier League match between Trinbago Knight Riders and St Lucia Stars made it to the record books after a total of 34 sixes — the joint highest in a T20 encounter — were hit. In December 2016, 34 sixes were hit during the match between Central Districts and Otago in New Zealand.

Darren Bravo and Brendon McCullum came out all guns blazing to guide Trinbago Knight Riders to a thrilling five-wicket win over St Lucia Stars at Gros Islet. Their stupendous partnership of 137 off 54 balls, studded with 16 sixes, helped their team cross the line with a ball to spare.

That partnership negated Kieran Pollard’s 23-ball 65 after he reached his fifty in 18 balls, the fastest this season. David Warner, currently serving international suspension due to his role in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa earlier this year, scored 72 off 55 before Rahkeem Cornwall smashed 53 off 29.

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Losing openers Sunil Narine (9) and Chris Lynn (4) inside the first four overs, the Knight Riders didn’t have an ideal start. After Colin Munro (25) departed, they needed 139 off 60 balls. A win seemed unlikely with Knight Riders still requiring 85 from the last five overs.

But Bravo led his side’s revival by plundering Pollard for five sixes in the over. Not only did Bravo he complete his first half-century of the season, he also brought down the equation to 53 runs off 24 balls. McCullum joined the party in the next over as the former New Zealand captain smashed 21 to give Knight Riders a target of 32 off 18.

Bravo continued his assault as he smacked Rahkeem Cornwall for four sixes. A couple of wides and a no-ball all but took the game away from Stars even though Cornwall dismissed McCullum and Javon Searles in the same over.

Bravo and Denesh Ramdin however guided Knight Riders to a much-needed win. Bravo stayed unbeaten on 94 off just 36 balls, including 10 sixes and six fours, while Ramdin was on eight. When asked about the win, Man-of-the-Match Bravo simply put it down to batting according to strengths. “Like, duh! He (McCullum) knew his strengths, I knew mine. There was a strong wind blowing across, so he took one end and I took the other,” he said.

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“The innings that he (Darren Bravo) played and the innings Brendon McCullum played, brought us back into the game. Those are innings you cannot plan for. We as a team don’t change much. We back our players and back their skills as a management, allow players to develop their skills. It feels good to win cricket games,” said Knight Riders captain Dwayne Bravo after the match.

Brief Scores: St Lucia Stars 212/2 in 20 overs (D Warner 72*, K Pollard 65*, R Cornwall 53) lost to Trinbago Knight Riders 218/5 in 19.5 overs (D Bravo 94*, B McCullum 68) by five wickets.

First Published: Aug 17, 2018 17:50 IST