England red-ball skipper Ben Stokes surpassed coach Brendon McCullum for the maximum number of sixes in Test match history on Saturday during the first day-night Test between New Zealand and England at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.
The all-rounder now stands on 109 sixes followed by Mccullum (107) who was known for his aggressive batting during his playing days. While the Kiwi legend took 101 Tests to hit the milestone, Stokes broke the record in just 90 matches.
On Saturday, Stokes’ innings of 31 runs had three boundaries and two mammoth sixes. Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews is next on the list among the active player with 75 sixes from 100 Tests.
🚨 Ben Stokes is now the outright holder of the world record for the most sixes hit in Test cricket 🚨#NZvENG pic.twitter.com/leGGPKbHMv
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) February 18, 2023
Apart from Stokes, half-centuries by Joe Root, Harry Brook and Ben Foakes allowed England to speed along at more than five runs per over to 374 in its second innings, an overall lead of 393.
Stuart Broad then clean bowled Devon Conway (12), Kane Williamson (0), Tom Latham (15) and first innings century-maker Tom Blundell (1) to take out the batters who might have been able to anchor New Zealand’s highest successful fourth-innings run chase in tests and the sixth highest of all time.
When Blundell was out New Zealand was 28-5 and it had improved a little by stumps when it was 63-5, still 330 behind. Daryl Mitchell, who was 13, and Michael Bracewell, who was 25, saw out the last 10 overs of the day.
Broad’s four wickets lifted his tally of test wickets in partnership with James Anderson to 1,004, surpassing the Australian combination of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne (1,001), who previously were the most prolific wicket-taking pair in tests.