There's an aggressive side to New Zealand pacer Tim Southee, perhaps in the batting department. On the fifth day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India, Southee made his way up in batting charts, going past ex-Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting in the list of most Test sixes.
Southee made a vital 46-ball 30 consisting of a four and two maximums as New Zealand gained a 32-run lead in the first innings of the rain-marred Test in Southampton.
Southee and Kyle Jamieson (21 runs from 16 deliveries) frustrated the Indian bowling unit while captain Kane Williamson notched up 49 to save New Zealand from a batting collapse in the morning session.
With his two sixes, Southee also clinched the 15th spot on the list of most Test sixes. He's now got 75 Test sixes to his name. Southee was previously tied with Ponting at 73 sixes. The 32-year-old will be eyeing MS Dhoni's record of hitting 78 sixes in the longest format of the game.
Southee, in fact, is only behind Brendon McCullum (107) and Chris Crains (87) in the list of New Zealand players with the most Test sixes under their belt.
Just a few minutes later after his batting cameo at Ageas Bowl, Southee also became the second Kiwi bowler after Daniel Vettori to pluck 600 wickets across all three formats of the game. The New Zealand speedster achieved the feat by dismissing opener Shubman Gill early in the second innings and giving India an early blow.
Brief scores: India 217 all-out vs New Zealand 249 all out (D Conway 54, K Williamson 49, T Southee 30, M Shami 4/76, I Sharma 3/48, R Ashwin 2/28)
