There have been two batters who have hit six sixes in an over in ODIs. The first player to achieve this feat was Proteas batter Herschelle Gibbs. He did this during the ODI World Cup 2007 against the Netherlands. Jaskaran Malhotra of the USA became the second batter to hit six sixes. He hit six sixes against Gaudi Toka of Papua New Guinea in 2021.
These two batters are in the first two positions on the list of batters who have hit the most runs off an over in ODI matches. The list contains some of the biggest power-hitters that the game has ever seen.
Let’s look at the top 10 batters with most runs off an over in ODIs:
| Runs | Batter | Bowler | Match | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | Herschelle Gibbs | Daan van Bunge | South Africa v Netherlands | St. Kitts | 2007 |
| 36 | Jaskaran Malhotra | Gaudi Toka | USA v PNG | Al Amerat | 2021 |
| 35 | Thisara Perera | Robin Peterson | Sri Lanka v South Africa | Pallekele | 2013 |
| 34 | AB de Villiers | Jason Holder | South Africa v West Indies | Sydney | 2015 |
| 34 | James Neesham | Thisara Perera | New Zealand v Sri Lanka | Mount Maunganui | 2019 |
| 32 | Shahid Afridi | Malinga Bandara | Pakistan v Sri Lanka | Abu Dhabi | 2007 |
| 32 | Liam Livingstone | Philippe Boissevain | England v Netherlands | Amstelveen | 2022 |
| 32 | Milind Kumar | Dilon Heyliger | United States of America v Canada | Lauderhill | 2025 |
| 31 | Kane Williamson and James Franklin | Rizwan Cheema | New Zealand v Canada | Mumbai | 2011 |
| 31 | Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant | Roston Chase | India v West Indies | Visakhapatnam | 2019 |
1. Herschelle Gibbs (36) vs Daan Van Bunge
South Africa faced the Netherlands in the 7th match of the ODI World Cup 2007. The Proteas lost their first wicket for a duck as AB de Villiers was out on the second delivery of the innings. Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis added 114 runs for the second wicket before Herschelle Gibbs walked in.
Daan van Bunge came out to bowl the 30th over of the innings and conceded six sixes of the over. Gibbs became the first player to hit six sixes in an over in ODIs. He was dismissed in the next over after scoring 72 runs off 40 deliveries and won the Player of the Match award for his innings.
2. Jaskaran Malhotra (36) vs Gaudi Toka
In 2021, the USA and Papua New Guinea played a two-match ODI series in the UAE. In the second ODI, the USA didn’t have a great start and lost the first three wickets for 29 runs. Jaskaran Malhotra walked in to bat in the number five position.
He became the first USA batter to score a century in ODIs. In the last over of the USA’s innings, Jaskaran hit six sixes off Gaudi Toka. The USA finished with 271 runs for the loss of nine wickets, and Jaskaran remained unbeaten on 173 runs off 124 deliveries and won the Player of the Match award.
3. Thisara Perera (35) vs Robin Peterson
In 2013, South Africa travelled to Sri Lanka to play a five-match ODI series. In the third ODI, the Proteas made 223 runs for the loss of seven wickets. Sri Lanka had a terrible outing with the bat and managed just 94 runs for the loss of seven wickets by the time the 32nd over was completed.
Robin Peterson bowled the 33rd over, and Thisara Perera hit five sixes and one four. Peterson bowled a wide as well in the over and conceded 35 runs. Post this over, the batters managed to hit five more boundaries and Sri Lanka were bundled out for 167 runs, losing the match by 56 runs.
4. AB de Villiers (34) vs Jason Holder
AB de Villiers had a monstrous run from 2013 to 2015 in ODIs. He came to the 2015 World Cup with the fastest century to his name. South Africa faced the West Indies in the 19th match of the tournament. de Villiers walked in to bat in the 30th over after South Africa had lost three wickets for 146 runs.
He hit his first four of the match in the 37th over and took 30 deliveries to reach the 50-run mark. Rilee Rossouw, who was batting with him at the other end, was dismissed on the first delivery of the 43rd over. At the end of the 47th over, de Villiers was batting on 95 runs off 50 deliveries. He had collected 45 runs off 20 deliveries, but the best was yet to come.
He hit a four on the first delivery of the 48th over, bowled by Jason Holder, then hit a six off the next delivery, which was a no-ball and ran two runs off the free-hit delivery. Holder bowled another no-ball and was hit for a boundary. Another four came off the free-hit. The last three deliveries were four, two, and another four, taking the total from the over to 34 runs. During this over, de Villiers reached his century off 52 deliveries, which was the second-fastest century in the ODI World Cup at that time, and South Africa made their highest World Cup score.
Holder bowled the last over of the innings to de Villiers and conceded another 30 runs from that over. South Africa finished with 408 runs for the loss of five wickets, while de Villiers made an unbeaten 162 runs off just 66 deliveries. He took 64 deliveries to hit 150 runs, which is the fastest till date.
5. James Neesham (34) vs Thisara Perera
Six years after Thisara Perera hit Robin Peterson for 35 runs in an over, he was at the receiving end against James Neesham. In 2019, Sri Lanka toured New Zealand to play a three-match ODI series. The first match was played on January 3 at Mount Maunganui.
Martin Guptill made 138 runs off 139 deliveries and provided a solid start to New Zealand. James Neesham arrived in the middle during the 47th over after Henry Nicholls was run out. Perera came to bowl the penultimate over of the innings and conceded three sixes off the first three deliveries. He bowled a no-ball, and Neesham took two runs off it. He hit a six off the fifth delivery and took a single off the last delivery. Perera gave away 34 runs from the over, and Neesham remained unbeaten on 47 runs off 13 deliveries.
6. Shahid Afridi (32) vs Malinga Bandara
In May 2007, Pakistan and Sri Lanka played the Warid Cricket Series in Abu Dhabi. In the first ODI, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. They made 235 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 50 overs. Salman Butt and Imran Nazir added 53 runs for the first wicket. Both the batters made 30+ runs; the next three batters could not score more than 15 runs.
Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi joined hands after Pakistan had lost five wickets for 137 runs in the 32nd over. Afridi changed the course of the match in the 39th over, bowled by Malinga Bandara. Afridi hit a four off the first two deliveries each. He hit a six off the next four deliveries each and collected a total of 32 runs. Pakistan crossed the 200-run mark in the over and Afridi reached his half-century. Pakistan won the match in the 43rd over, and Afridi (73* off 34) won the Player of the Match award.
7. Liam Livingstone (32) vs Philippe Boissevain
In June 2022, England travelled to the Netherlands to play a three-match ODI series. In the very first game, the English batters rewrote the history books with their mad batting. Phil Salt, Dawid Malan, and Jos Buttler each scored a century. It was only the third occasion when three batters of a side hit a century each in an ODI game.
England finished with 498 runs for the loss of four wickets, and it is the highest total in ODI cricket’s history. The English batters hit a total of 26 sixes in the match, which is again a record. The previous best was under England’s name as well. Liam Livingstone came out to bat in the 45th over when Eoin Morgan was out for a duck. He took a single off the first delivery that he faced, and the 45th over was completed with a six from Buttler.
Philippe Boissevain bowled the 46th over, and it was the last over of his spell. Before this over, Boissevain had conceded 76 runs from his nine overs. Livingstone made a mockery of Boissevain’s bowling as he hit two fours and four sixes in the over. He took just 17 deliveries to reach his half-century, which is the fastest by an English batter in ODIs. Boissevain finished his spell with 108 runs across his name in 10 overs. Boissevain was the first Dutch bowler to concede over 100 runs in ODIs. He has not played a single game for the Netherlands since this game.
8. Milind Kumar (32) vs Dilon Heyliger
In 2015, the USA faced Canada in a Cricket World Cup League 2 match at Lauderhill. Monanak Patel, the USA’s captain, elected to bat after winning the toss. The USA lost their first wicket for just 12 runs, the second wicket for 90 runs, and the third wicket for 153 runs.
Milind Kumar and Smit Patel were in the middle after the last wicket fell. Both batters had terrific outings. Patel remained unbeaten on 152 runs off 137 deliveries, while Milind made 115 runs off a mere 67 deliveries. In the 48th over, bowled by Dilon Heyliger, Milind hit a four of the first delivery and followed that with four consecutive sixes. He hit a four off the last delivery to complete the over and collected 32 runs off it.
9. Kane Williamson and James Franklin (31) vs Rizwan Cheema and Harvir Baidwan
New Zealand took on Canada in the 30th match of the 2011 ODI World Cup. Brendon McCullum (101 runs) and Ross Taylor (74 runs) helped the Blackcaps cross the 300-run mark. New Zealand had made 363 runs for the loss of five wickets against Canada during the previous edition of the ODI World Cup in 2007.
At the end of the 48th over, James Franklin joined Kane Williamson in the middle. Rizwan Cheema came to bowl the last over of New Zealand’s innings. Williamson took a single off the first delivery. Franklin hit a six off the second and third deliveries each. He hit a four and a six off the next two deliveries. Cheema bowled the second beamer of the over off the last delivery, which Franklin hit for a boundary. Cheema had to be removed from the bowling due to the second beamer, and Harvir Baidwan came to bowl the last delivery of the innings. He bowled a wide and gave away two runs off the last ball. Thus, Williamson and Franklin collected 31 runs off the over.
10. Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant (31) vs Roston Chase
In 2019, the West Indies travelled to India to play a three-match ODI series. The West Indies won the toss and elected to field. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul added 227 runs for the first wicket. India lost three wickets before reaching the 300-run mark in the 44th over. Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant were in the middle after the third wicket fell.
At the end of the 46th over, India had 332 runs for the loss of three wickets on the board. Roston Chase came to bowl the 47th over and started the over with a no-ball. Iyer left the delivery, and a run came off a bye. Pant took a single off the free-hit. Iyer was back on strike and hit a six off the next two deliveries. He hit a four off the fourth delivery and finished with two sixes of the last two deliveries of the over. The duo collected 31 runs off the over, the most runs off an over for India in ODI history.
Leave a Comment