New Zealand captain Tim Southee has equaled former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the list of most sixes in Test cricket. With his team in tatters, Southee achieved a personal milestone in a field which isn’t primary for him.
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It all happened on the penultimate delivery of the 40th over when Southee made room for himself only to hit veteran England pacer Stuart Broad for a six over deep mid-wicket. Batting for the 131st time in Test cricket, Southee has now hit 78 sixes to share the 12th spot alongside Dhoni (78 sixes in 144 innings).
UPDATE: Having surpassed Dhoni, Kevin Pietersen (81) and Misbah-ul-Haq (81), Southee has now equaled Andrew Flintoff (82) and Matthew Hayden (82) to be at the joint 10th position in this list.
Set to resume batting with wicket-keeper batter Tom Blundell (25*), Southee (23*) faces a daunting challenge of scoring 97 more runs, as a team, to avoid the follow-on in the ongoing second Test match against England at Basin Reserve. Although the two have put together a 39-ball 35-run eighth-wicket partnership, trailing by 297 runs means that the road ahead is almost certain to be unpleasant for the hosts.
Tim Southee equals MS Dhoni highest sixes in Test cricket history (table updated on February 26, 2023)
It is noteworthy that Southee (most sixes among specialist bowlers) grabs the top spot in the list of highest number of sixes in the history of Test cricket for cricketers who have a batting average of less than 20. Unsurprisingly, Broad follows Southee in this list on the back of hitting 54 sixes across 235 Test innings.
| Most Test sixes with batting average of <20 | ||||
| Batter | Innings | Runs | Average | Sixes |
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 131 | 1948 | 16.23 | 82 |
| Stuart Broad (ENG) | 235 | 3573 | 18.22 | 54 |
| Harbhajan Singh (IND) | 145 | 2224 | 18.22 | 42 |
| Shane Warne (AUS) | 199 | 3154 | 17.32 | 37 |
| Michael Holding (WI) | 76 | 910 | 13.78 | 36 |
| Dale Steyn (SA) | 119 | 1251 | 13.59 | 36 |
Southee, 34, is at the third position when it comes to cricketers from New Zealand. The right-handed batter is behind his former captain Brendon McCullum (107) and former all-rounder Chris Cairns (87).
Tim Southee IPL career
One of the 11 cricketers retained by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of Indian Premier League 2023 auction last year, the upcoming 16th season of the tournament will be Southee’s third consecutive season at KKR.
Southee, who had debuted under Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings 12 years ago, had played a lone season for them picking four wickets in five matches at an average of 41.50, an economy rate of 8.74 and a strike rate of 28.50.
Southee, who has also represented Rajasthan Royals (2014-15), Mumbai Indians (2016-17) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (2018-19) in the IPL over the years, has dismissed a total of 45 batters in 52 IPL matches at an average of 36.96, an economy rate of 8.53 and a strike rate of 26.
