Gaikwad smashes List A record with seven sixes in 43-run over

It was the penultimate over of the Maharashtra innings, which started with the scoreboard reading 272 for 5, and ended with Maharashtra on 315 for 5. They finished on 330 for 5. The total of 43 runs from the over also made it to the record books, matching the combined effort of Brett Hampton and Joe Carter, off Willem Ludick, for Northern Districts against Central Districts in a Ford Trophy game in 2018.

On Monday in Ahmedabad, left-arm spinner Shiva Singh was in operation from around the wicket at the start of the over. The first ball, a low full toss, was smoked over wide long-on. The second was in the arc, and was smashed straight down the ground. The third was shorter, and Gaikwad swung it over the rope at deep square-leg. Shiva changed his line for the fourth ball and went outside off stump, but the length was perfect for Gaikwad to hit over long-off. The fifth went roughly in the same direction, and was a no-ball to boot, and the free hit went over long-on. That was the sixth six in five legal deliveries, and Gaikwad got to his double-century with that. The last ball, Shiva finally going over the wicket, was again in the arc on middle stump, and went over deep midwicket again.

Gaikwad finished on 220 not out off 159 balls, with ten fours and 16 sixes. And the unfortunate Shiva finished with 0 for 88 from nine overs. It was pretty much a one-man show from Gaikwad, with the rest of the Maharashtra batters aggregating 96 runs from 142 balls.

The 220 not out became the 39th double-century in List A cricket, and the fifth-highest score by an Indian in the format. The top score in that list, N Jagadeesan's 277, was also recorded at this year's Vijay Hazare Trophy, for Tamil Nadu against Arunachal Pradesh.

While the record for most runs in an over in a first-class match is generally thought to be 36 - achieved twice, by Garry Sobers and Ravi Shastri - there are instances of much higher totals. The biggest, in all likelihood, is the 77 conceded in somewhat dubious circumstances by Wellington's Bert Vance in a Shell Trophy game against Canterbury back in February 1990.