UNITED States batsman Jaskaran Malhotra has become the ninth man to hit six sixes in an over in top-level cricket.

The 31-year-old hit the runs off Papua New Guinea pace bowler Gaudi Toka in a one-day international in Oman.

He is just the second player to achieve the feat in ODI cricket after South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs in 2007.

It also ensured Malhotra, whose previous highest score was 18, finished unbeaten on 173 – the highest one-day score by a US batsman.
The previous highest was 95 by Aaron Jones against United Arab Emirates in 2019.

Malhotra has also broken the record for the highest score by a number five in ODI cricket, eclipsing the 162 by South Africa’s AB de Villiers against West Indies at the 2015 World Cup.
It is also the third-highest ODI score by a player from one of the International Cricket Council’s associate nations.

The remarkable innings, which included 16 sixes and four fours, helped the US recover from 29-3 to reach 271-9 from their 50 overs, with the next highest score just 22.

The India-born wicketkeeper batsman made his List A USA debut in 2017 before the US gained ODI status in 2019. He has since gone on to make six T20 and seven ODI appearances.
The United States won the first match of the two-match series on Monday by seven wickets.

The sacred nine
Nine batsmen have hit six sixes in an over in top-level cricket:
• 1968 – Sir Garfield Sobers (for Nottinghamshire v Glamorgan)*
• 1984 – Ravi Shastri (Bombay v Baroda)*
• 2007 – Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa v Netherlands, World Cup)
• 2007 – Yuvraj Singh (India v England, T20)
• 2017 – Ross Whiteley (Worcestershire v Yorkshire, T20)
• 2018 – Hazratullah Zazai (Kabul Zwanan v Balkh Legends, T20)
• 2020 – Leo Carter (Canterbury v Northern Districts, T20)
• 2021 – Kieron Pollard (West Indies v Sri Lanka, T20)
• 2021 – Jaskaran Malhotra (United States v Papua New Guinea, ODI).(BBC Sport)