New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee equalled legendary West Indies batter Chris Gayle in the list of most sixes in Test cricket during day 1 of the third Test against England at Seddon Park, Hamilton. Playing his farewell game, Southee was given a guard of honour as he walked out to bat late on the opening day. The seamer wasted no time in settling down and whacked Ben Stokes for a six on just the third ball of his innings to get off the mark.
Two balls later, he registered another six against the England skipper, clobbering him over deep backward square leg. In the very next over, he clubbed Gus Atkinson over deep mid-wicket to register his third six of the innings, which took his career tally to 98 maximums. As a result, he got levelled with Chris Gayle who also hit 98 sixes in 103 Test matches.
Southee’s entertaining knock came to an end as he got a leading edge against Atkinson and was caught by Brydon Carse at mid-off. He was dismissed for a quick-fire 23 (10) with the help of one four and three sixes. He now sits on the fourth spot in the list of most sixes in Test cricket and just needs two more maximums to become the fourth player in the history of the format to hit over 100 sixes.
