The T20 World Cup Sub Regional East Asia-Pacific Qualifier A witnessed a historical record being shattered on Tuesday. 39 runs were scored in an over in the match between Samoa and Vanuatu as the record for the most runs in a T20I over comes down.
Samoa batter Darius Visser scored six sixes in an over against Vanuatu bowler Nalin Nipiko, while the bowler bowled three no-balls as a new International record has been set.
This record surpasses the 36-run records held by Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Dipendra Singh Airee and Rohit Sharma/Rinku Singh.
Former Indian cricketer Yuvraj hit six sixes in an over to amass 36 runs off an over against Stuart Broad in the T20 World Cup 2007, and Kieron Pollard hit six maximums against Akila Dananjaya in 2021 to equal it for the first time.
Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh combined to hit 35 runs against Karim Janat, who gave an extra to make it 36 off the over in a T20I in January 2024. Nepal's Dipendra Singh Airee hit six sixes to Kamran Khan of Qatar in a T20I in April 2024, while the latest incident before this belonged to Nicholas Pooran, who smashed 26 runs, coupled with 10 extras against Azmatullah Omarzai in a T20I in June 2024.
Coming back to the Samoa vs Vanuatu 39-run record, batter Visser cleaned the ropes on six balls out of the nine (including three no-balls). He hit Nipiko for three sixes off the first three balls, followed by a no-ball on which no run came off the bat. 19 runs from the first three balls. On the fourth legal delivery, Visser hit another six, followed by a dot fifth ball. The bowler bowled two more no-balls, one of which went for a six before getting smashed on his final legal delivery for another maximum.
Notably, Visser did not get the three extra runs as the no-ball extras are not credited to the batter's tally. For this reason, Visser has hit 36 runs and not 39. However, the no-ball and wide runs are added to the bowler's and the team's account, which brought the over's accumulated runs to 39.
