Kieron Pollard joins six sixes club... two overs after Akila Dananjaya claims hat-trick

West Indies won the first T20I of the series at the Coolidge Cricket Ground by four wickets, chasing a victory target of 132 with 6.5 overs remaining, but the result was surely secondary in a game full of extraordinary incidents

Kieron Pollard joined Herschelle Gibbs and Yuvraj Singh in hitting six sixes in an over of international cricket on a remarkable occasion in Antigua, with Sri Lanka's Akila Dananjaya the unfortunate bowler – just two overs after the off-spinner had taken a hat-trick.

West Indies won the first T20I of the series at the Coolidge Cricket Ground – a maiden international match for the venue – by four wickets, chasing a victory target of 132 with 6.5 overs remaining.

But the result was surely secondary in a game full of extraordinary landmarks. In Dananjaya’s case, he became the second player – after Stuart Broad – to claim a hat-trick and be smashed for six consecutive sixes, albeit Broad’s pair came four years apart. Dananjaya achieved the double in little over 10 minutes.

First, he had Evin Lewis caught at long-off for a 10-ball 28, after West Indies had reached their 50 inside 19 balls. Then, Chris Gayle – on his international return – was trapped lbw first ball on review, before Nicholas Pooran edged to Niroshan Dickwella to complete the landmark. Even so, West Indies were 57 for 3 at the end of four overs.

Two overs later, the game was all but over as Pollard made history. His first six was slog-swept over long-on, the second smashed into the sightscreen, the third hit over long-off, the fourth over deep midwicket, the fifth clubbed off the back foot and the sixth ironically perhaps the simplest, flicked over the legside as he joined Yuvraj and Gibbs in the international history books.

He became the second player from the Caribbean to achieve the feat, following Sir Garfield Sobers for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan. As for Dananjaya, he finished with figures of 3 for 62 from four overs.

🎙"Herschelle Gibbs, Yuvraj Singh, you have company!"

Kieron Pollard is the third player to hit six sixes in an over of international cricket! 🤯#WIvSLpic.twitter.com/bTaQCBevmz

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) March 4, 2021

Elsewhere in a bizarre chase, Jason Holder ultimately saw his team home after Pollard and Fabian Allen were both dismissed in consecutive deliveries, which at one point left West Indies 101 for 6, with 31 runs still needed for victory.

But such had been the earlier fireworks, Dwayne Bravo was able to finish not out on 4 from 17 deliveries, allowing Wanindu Hasaranga to record the somewhat exceptional figures, given the circumstances, of 3 for 12 from four overs.

Earlier in the innings, Angelo Mathews had opened the bowling as stand-in captain but conceded 19 runs in the first over.

Asked for his thoughts after hitting his fifth six, Pollard said: “A couple of things went through my head; do I survive the rest of the over because I’ve already got 30 off it, or do I just continue?

“I knew I had the bowler on the back foot and he went around the wicket and it would have been difficult for him to try to bowl the ball anywhere in front of me.

“Once I connected with the breeze I said: ‘You know what Polly, take your chances, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’,t, and that’s how I’ve played my cricket throughout, especially with spinners bowling. It came off tonight.”

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