Watch: In a Ranji Trophy match at Surat, Akash Kumar Choudhary of Meghalaya hit eight consecutive sixes en route to the fastest ever half-century in first-class cricket.
Akash Kumar Choudhary hits the fastest fifty in first-class history
By the time Akash came to join Swastic Chettri, Arunachal Pradesh had already amassed 576-6 against Meghalaya. Arpit Bhatewara (207), Kishan Lyngdoh (119), and Rahul Dalal (144) had all gone past three figures.
Choudhary began innocuously, running two singles off the first three balls he faced. He then hit every ball of an over bowled by left-arm spinner Limar Dabi for a six. When he got the strike back, he hit two more sixes to reach his half-century, off only 11 balls – the fastest in more than 250 years of first-class cricket.
Curiously, Akash did not score off the next three balls he faced: he was on 50 off 14 balls when Lyngdoh declared the innings closed.
Match 76, Arunachal Pradesh vs Meghalaya
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Equals Sobers and Shastri, then goes past them
Before Akash, Garry Sobers (off Malcolm Nash) and Ravi Shastri (off Tilak Raj) were the only ones to have hit six sixes in an over in first-class cricket, while Mike Procter had hit six consecutive sixes across two overs bowled by Dennis Breakwell.
Akash equalled the first record, of Sobers and Shastri, en route to becoming the first ever batter to hit eight sixes in eight balls in first-class cricket.
