On This Day in 2007: When Yuvraj Singh smashed six sixes in an over off Stuart Broad

Yuvraj Singh blasted a 12-ball half-century against England in the ICC T20 World Cup 2007.

September 19, 2007, will remain a memorable and historic day in world cricket as India’s Yuvraj Singh became the first batsman in T20Is to hit six sixes in an over. That he did in a T20 World Cup encounter against England made it even more special.

India faced England in a crucial match in Group E at the Kingsmead in Durban, which is known for producing high-scoring games in white-ball cricket.

Indian captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first. The Men In Blue got off to a rollicking start from openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. The pair added 136 runs in 14.4 overs and laid a strong platform for the other batters.

England made a mini-comeback by picking three wickets in three overs and by the end of the 17th over, India were 159/3, their run rate dipping a bit. In the 18th over, Yuvraj then struck Andrew Flintoff for two consecutive fours and on the last ball of the over he took a single and kept the strike.

Flintoff was irked by the two fours from the Indian left-hander and sledged Yuvraj after the completion of his over. This triggered Yuvraj, who then aggressively charged towards Flintoff and the duo had a heated altercation.

What came after that was mayhem from Yuvraj as he tore into Stuart Broad, slamming the seamer for six sixes in an over, the first such instance in T20Is.

Yuvraj slogged the first ball over deep mid-wicket wicket and flicked the second ball over deep square leg. The third delivery was elegantly muscled over extra cover. Broad had an experience of only one year in international cricket until then, and he had no answers to Yuvraj’s belligerent strokeplay.

After bowling three full deliveries, he bowled a full toss, which the left-handed batter cut over backward point. The next two balls were smacked over deep mid-wicket and wide long-on for maximums as Yuvraj registered his name into history books.

He reached his half-century in only 12 balls, which was the fastest T20I fifty until 2023 when Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee broke it with a nine-ball fifty against Mongolia in the Asian Games in China.

Yuvraj later said that he was spurred on by the fight with Flintoff. He said, “Oppositions do have words with each other; it’s part of the game. Outside we’re good friends, but in the game, it’s competitive. I just wanted to give it back with the bat.”

Watch: Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes in an over against Stuart Broad

6️⃣ 6️⃣ 6️⃣ 6️⃣ 6️⃣ 6️⃣ Happy birthday @YUVSTRONG12! 🎂 pic.twitter.com/0ZFS3EBHnw

— ICC (@ICC) December 12, 2019

India posted 218 and won by 18 runs. Yuvraj bagged Man of the Match award for his blistering knock of 58 runs off only 16 balls. He became only the fourth man in senior cricket, after Garry Sobers, Ravi Shastri, and Herschelle Gibbs – to hit six sixes in an over.

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