West Indies' T20 great Kieron Pollard has smashed Afghanistan's Rashid Khan for five consecutive sixes in The Hundred Men's Competition 2024. Playing for Southern Brave, Pollard's late onslaught ensured that his side got over the finish line, chasing a tricky target of 127 in 100 balls against Trent Rocket. Southern Brave were struggling at 78/6 after 76 balls, before Pollard went berserk on one of the best spinners of this generation. Pollard becomes one of very few batsmen to hit five sixes in a row.
Pollard was struggling on 6 off 14 balls, but turned the tide completely in the space of five balls. The first one was hit over mid-wicket, the next two over long-off, the fourth again over mid-wicket and finally the fifth again over long-off. In the space of five balls, Rashid Khan's economy was completely spoilt, as he ended up giving away 40 runs from his 20 balls.
The Hundred has struggled to establish popularity among cricket fans over the world, with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently welcoming investment from IPL and Indian owners. However, performances like these can help catapult its popularity.
Pollard wasn't too impressed by the situation his team had brought themselves into before his rescue act. "Hopefully some lessons learnt and we won't put ourselves in such a situation next time around," he said after the game.
Dimitri Mascarenhas off Yuvraj Singh's bowling and Rinku Singh against Yash Dayal are the two instances of five consecutive sixes that will be notably remembered by Indian fans. Pollard's compatriot Andre Russell, Australia's Chris Lynn, and USA's Jaskaran Malhotra are some of the others who have achieved the feat.
With this win, Southern Brave stayed on second position in the table, whilst Trent Rockets are in fourth position, four points behind Southern Brave.