NE SPORTS BUREAU
NEW DELHI, JAN 5
Canterbury Kings Left-arm batsman Leo Carter hit six consecutive sixes off an Anton Devcich over to lead his side to a massive Super Smash chase at Hagley Oval on Sunday.
Needing 220 to win, the Kings chased it down with an over to spare with Carter finishing on a remarkable 70 off just 29 balls, including seven sixes. Six of those came off the 16th over bowled by the former Black Caps spinner, which went for 36 runs.
36 off an over!
Leo Carter hit 6 sixes in a row and the @CanterburyCrick Kings have pulled off the huge chase of 220 with 7 balls to spare at Hagley Oval!
Scorecard | https://t.co/uxeeDsd3QY#SuperSmashNZ #cricketnation
SKY Sport. pic.twitter.com/nuDXdp1muG
— Dream11 Super Smash (@SuperSmashNZ) January 5, 2020
It is the first time a Kiwi has hit six sixes in an over, and just the seventh time in history at a top domestic level or higher, as Carter’s feats led to the highest successful Twenty20 chase in New Zealand history.
It was surely the most unlikely batsman to achieve the feat as well. Carter came into the game with a high-score of 35, an average of 13, and a grim strike rate of 105. Before the over, he was struggling – scoring just 11 off 12 balls, before hitting 59 off his next 17 deliveries.
“I basically just stepped across and swung as hard as I could,” a stunned Carter said to Sky.
“I’m not so sure I got many off the middle, but pretty short boundary there, so they just carried over, I was pretty thankful for that.
“We needed a big over at that time – I was lucky enough to get a few over there.”
Canterbury opener Chad Bowes hit 57 off 31 balls while Cole McConchie added a quickfire 49 from 25 as part of a 121-run partnership with Carter to help seal the win, with Canterbury needing 64 off 30 balls to win before Carter’s heroics, then just 28 off 24 after the incredible over.
Northern Districts had earlier made 219-7 from their 20 overs with Black Cap Tim Seifert scoring 74 off 36 balls. He put of 139 for the second wicket with captain Dean Brownlie who made 55, and Seifert’s knock included 29 off an over from Canterbury spinner Blake Coburn.
It looked to be the stunning accomplishment of the game – until Carter made history.
Overall, Carter is the seventh player in world cricket to record the feat across all formats in both domestic and international level. He entered the elite list that includes the likes of Gary Sobers, Ravi Shastri, Herschelle Gibbs, Yuvraj, Worcestershire’s Ross Whiteley and Afghanistan’s Hazratullah Zazai.
Carter also became only the fourth batsman to achieve the feat in T20 cricket in both domestic and international level.
The other batsmen to achieve the feat in T20s include India’s Yuvraj (2007), Whitely (2017) and Zazai (2018).
