Stats: James Neesham smashes 34 runs in an over off Thisara Perera

The New Year saw ace New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill making a remarkable comeback to international cricket hitting a hundred in the first ODI of 2019 against Sri Lanka in Christchurch, also becoming the fastest Kiwi batsman to complete 6,000 runs in the format. But Guptill had to share the honors in batting with James Neesham who scored an unbeaten 47 down the batting order off just 13 deliveries to take the Black Caps to a formidable total of 371 in 50 overs.

In a thoroughly solid batting performance from New Zealand which laid down the base for a late-innings flourish, 28-year-old left-hand batting all-rounder James Neesham came out to bat at No.7 with his team comfortably placed at 316 for 5 at the 47th over and made the most of whatever deliveries that were available.

Though the man has a career strike rate in ODIs around 99, he belted whatever came his way in his knock – hitting six sixes, five of which came in the over (the 49th) of bowling all-rounder Thisara Perera. Four of those sixes came in consecutive deliveries which were followed by a waist-high no. The fifth ball was sent out of the park again and Neesham took a single in the final ball.

With this concession of 34 runs in one over, Perera became the first player in the world to score 30-plus runs as well as conceding that many runs in an over. The only other player in the world to have experienced the same high and low is India’s Yuvraj Singh.

Herschelle Gibbs tops the list of taking most runs in an over in ODIs

In terms of plundering of runs in one over in ODIs, former South African Herschelle Gibbs tops the list with 36 runs (six sixes) off an over of the Netherlands’ DLS van Bunge in the 2007 World Cup. The second in the list is Perera himself who took 35 runs off South African spinner Robin Peterson in 2013.

That over saw Perera hitting five sixes and one four while one ball went for wide. The third is former South Africa captain AB de Villiers who slammed his Windies counterpart Jason Holder in 2015. The sequence in the over read (4+Nb, 6, 2+nb, 4, 4, 4, 2, 6). Neesham’s act on Thursday puts him next in the table.

The fifth position goes to former explosive batsman from Pakistan Shahid Afridi who on 2007 had punished Lanka’s Malinga Bandara for 32 runs in an over (four sixes and two fours) and the sixth position goes to two players, both from New Zealand and they are current captain Kane Williamson and James Franklin. They both hit 31 runs each in one over against Canada in 2011. While Williamson hit Rizwan Cheema, Franklin belted HS Baidwan.

Most runs in an over in ODI cricket history

*stats updated till 3rd January 2019