September 19th might not be a date that you might necessarily remember. But for Indian cricket fans, on this day back in 2007 something magical happened. Playing the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa, India was in a must-win match against England. Yuvraj Singh, one of the most enigmatic and stylish Indian cricketers created a record and did the unthinkable in a Stuart Broad over by hitting him for 6 Sixes! In this article, we relive Yuvraj Singh’s Six Sixes which transformed him from a good player to a legendary one.
Also read: 2002 NatWest Series Final – When Dada Took Off His Shirt At Lord’s
Mascarenhas Smashes Yuvi for 5 Sixes In A Row
Before we go on to the World Cup match between India and England and Yuvraj Singh’s Six Sixes, let’s build some context. Earlier that year, India was playing an ODI series against England in England. In the 6th match of the series, Dimitri Mascarenhas hit Yuvi for 5 sixes in an over. While India still managed to win the match by 2 wickets, that over was etched in Yuvi’s mind, and probably that motivated him to do what he did later.
The First T20 World Cup: 2007
Now cut to a few weeks later and India is now playing their inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa. While India managed to win their match against Pakistan through a bowl-out, India lost their next match against New Zealand. Thus to go ahead in the tournament, India had to win this match against England.
India Vs England
India bats first in this match, and both the openers, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir give India a good start to the innings with both scoring 50s. India was scoring at a good run rate of around 10 before Yuvraj Singh came to the crease.
Verbal Battle with Flintoff
Yuvraj was making his presence felt on the ground as he got himself set and hit 2 boundaries off Flintoff. That’s when he had a verbal battle with Flintoff. Flintoff sledged him for hitting those boundaries, which soon escalated when after a few exchanges Flintoff in the heat of the moment threatened to cut his head off!
After that Yuvi was understandably furious and ready to take England bowlers for a ride.
The Memorable 19th Over Begins
With Yuvi all charged up from the banter with Flintoff, a young Stuart Broad would bowl that famous over.
The First Hit: “That’s huge. That’s a biggie. It’s out of here.”
Broad bowls the first ball of the over and Yuvraj Singh arches his back and with his full power hits the ball out of the ground. The ball goes high up in the air and goes for a massive six over cow corner.
Second Hit: “Six more. Just a flick on the wrists and way she goes into the crowds”
Broad then bowls a poor ball at the slot, and Yuvi just flicks it effortlessly for another six. This one goes towards backward square leg and Yuvi now looks on a roll.
Third Hit: “This is in the air. Clear Long off. 3 in a row!”
Broad again bowls a slot ball in an attempt to go for the yorker, but Yuvraj manages to smash it again for a six. This time towards extra cover. 3 Sixes in a row!
Fourth Hit: “Now round the wicket. Will it make a difference? It doesn’t – it’s 4 in a row”
Before bowling the fourth ball, Broad looks tense. He is now trying his best just to not get hit for a six. In that attempt, he now tries to change his angle and comes to bowl from round the wicket. But due to the immense pressure bowls a huge full toss and Yuvi takes the gift and hits it for another six towards backward point. 4 Sixes in a row!
Fifth Hit: “Five!!! Could he make it 6 out of 6?”
Before bowling the 5th ball, Broad talked to his captain Collingwood about what to do now. He tried everything but the result was the same. He looked nervous and clueless as to what can now stop Yuvraj Singh.
He bowls over the wicket again and this time, Yuvi goes down on one knee and smashed the ball for another six! The ball goes really high up in the air before it finally lands in the stands. 5 in a row and Ravi Shastri’s voice booms in the commentary, ” Could he make it 6 out of 6?”
Sixth Hit: ” Six Sixes In An Over!”
Last ball and everyone from the audience to the commentators anticipate what will happen. Can he really do it?
Broad bowls another slot ball and Yuvi smacks it over mid-on to to do the unthinkable. He has done it, he hit 6 sixes in an over.
Yuvraj Singh’s Six Sixes In A Row!
Yuvraj Singh hits 6 sixes in an over – a feat achieved by only a few cricketers. Herchelle Gibbs did it in an ODI however he did it against the Netherlands. It is also apt that Ravi Shastri was commentating during this over – Shastri had himself achieved the same feat in domestic cricket while playing for Mumbai in a Ranji match against Baroda.
Yuvi Hits Fastest International 50
Thanks to Yuvraj Singh’s Six Sixes – 36 runs off just 6 balls, he is able to bring up the fastest 50 ever in T20is. He is able to get to his 50 in just 12 balls which is a record he still holds today.
Match Result
India: 218/4, England: 200/6
Result: India Won By 18 Runs
Yuvraj Starts From Where He Left Off Against Australia
While Yuvraj Singh didn’t play the next match against South Africa which the Indian team won pretty comfortably, he played again in the semi-finals against Australia. He picked up from where he left off against England as he played a superb knock of 70 runs off 30 balls to throttle India to a good total of 188. Yuvraj Singh’s match-winning performance earned him the man of the match as India now entered the finals.
India won the inaugural World Cup defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by 5 runs.
Image Sources: Screengrabs from ICC on YouTube
Yuvraj Singh’s Six Sixes will forever be etched in the memories of all Indian fans. Yuvraj would later go on to play many more match-winning knocks, especially in the 2011 World Cup where he would go on to become the player of the tournament. With that, we come to the end of this article. We hope you enjoyed reading this as we continue to bring you content like this, till then adios!