Bipin Dani
Sri Lankan spinner Akila Dananjaya had a day (Thursday) to remember and a day to forget in the space of an over.
The Windies captain Kieron Pollard’s six sixes in an over trumped Akila’s hat-trick in a crazy chase.
Hitting six sixes in an over is rather more credible than grabbing the three successive wickets by a bowler, according to Colin Borde, the manager of the captain.
Speaking exclusively over the telephone, he said, “Hitting six sixes is a rare occurrence because you have to do it six times without making a mistake.
I am not telling because I am managing Pollard at the TKR (Tribago Knights Rider team, owned by India’s Bollywood hero Shah Rukh Khan)”.
“It (six sixes) is a great achievement to be able to have a perfect power hitting over which is why it’s so rare”.
There have been only a handful batsman hitting six sixes whereas the number of hat-tricks are quite more in T-20Is. “You have to be confident enough in your skills to even attempt it”.
The manager, however, needs to be reminded that the bowler has only four overs to achieve this compared to the batsman who has 20 overs to face.
He, however, further added, “a hat-trick is also a great feat and must be highly commended, particularly at international level”. At no stage, the manager had given up hope for Windies to win.
“I still felt that they would win as the score was a low one and we had enough experience at the back end with enough balls to negotiate the run chase”, he concluded.
Former Indian all-rounder Yuvrj Singh, one of the other two six sixes hitter, has welcomed Pollard in his club.
“Welcome to the club
@KieronPollard55 #sixsixes you beauty !!!”, he tweeted with six-star emojis.
Bowler comes under more pressure after four and five sixes are hit in his one over successively, according to David Furlonge, the coach of the West Indies captain Kieron Pollard whose six sixes in an over trumped Akila’s hat-trick in a crazy chase on Thursday.
Speaking exclusively over the telephone, he said, “I think both-hitting six sixes in one over by a batsman or grabbing a hat-trick by any bowler-are incredible but as a bowler you would be under more pressure especially after the fourth and fifth six”.
“It was fantastic to watch from his Super 50 performance last week. I knew he would hit the spinners for some sixes but never thought six sixes, it was fantastic to watch”, Furlonge, who has been Pollard’s coach since he was 14 years, said.
“In a low scoring affair and the status of the game when he came in he took whatever chance Sri Lanka had of winning the game away from them in that over so he deserved the Player of the Match award”
“Sri Lanka didn’t make enough runs and all that was needed would be one or two 20 run partnerships”, the coach concluded.
