A six off Rohit Sharma's bat in the 11th over at Lord's turned into a piece of cricketing history, as the batter erased a long-standing global six-hitting record during India's decisive third ODI against England.
Pull shots power the fifty
Batting in his trademark style, the Hitman leaned repeatedly on his favourite pull shot, finding the boundary and the stands with regularity. He brought up his half-century in the 21st over of the innings. Two of the sixes that came off his bat during that fifty-laden innings turned out to be far more significant than the milestone itself.
Gayle's old record falls
Those two sixes pushed Rohit Sharma past West Indies great Chris Gayle to become the batter with the most sixes across South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia, the countries collectively known in cricket as the SENA nations, combining all three formats. Gayle had struck 342 sixes against these four countries across Tests, ODIs and T20Is. Rohit's own tally against the same four sides has now climbed to 343. SENA conditions are widely regarded as among the toughest touring assignments for batters, which makes topping the six-hitting charts there an especially notable achievement for Rohit.
The record actually fell in the 11th over of the innings, when the second six of Rohit's knock sailed over the ropes. That single shot was enough to push his overall SENA six count past Gayle's mark.
Team-by-team breakdown
In international cricket, Rohit has now hit 138 sixes against Australia, 58 against England, 83 against New Zealand and 64 against South Africa. Add those four numbers together and the total comes to 343, currently the highest six-hitting count against these opponents by any batter in the world. The milestone arrived at a significant point in the series, with India and England locked in a series-deciding contest on the historic Lord's ground.
