England skipper Ben Stokes surpassed the record of Brendon McCullum as the number-one hitter of sixes in the Test format. Stokes, who had 107 sixes till Saturday, now has 109 after his outing in the first innings of the opening Test match. Ben scored the 108th six of his test career when he hooked Scott Kuggeleijn over fine leg-midway through the 3rd day of the opening Test against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui.
Playing the opening Test match of the New Zealand series, Stokes hit two sixes in the game’s second innings, giving an aggressive account of himself as England piled on runs on Day 3 of the Pink Ball Test match. Stokes, a prolific sixes hitter, achieved the feat in his 90th Test match.
In 90 Test matches, Ben Stokes has now hit 109 sixes. He has a total of 5,652 runs with 12 centuries and 28 fifties at an average of 36. His best score in the test format is 258. Whereas McCullum has 107 sixes in 101 Tests and made 6,453 runs, an average of 38.64. Brandon has made 12 centuries and 31 fifties in the test format, with a best score of 302.
After Stokes (109) and McCullum (107), Adam Gilchrist has precisely 100 sixes. Chris Gayle hit 98 sixes, and at number 5 is Jacques Kallis, with 97 sixes to his name.
The 1st Test played between England and New Zealand was pretty poised after the New Zealand team made 306 runs in response to England’s first-innings score of 325-9. However, England crashed 374 in 74 overs in the 3rd innings before bowling the Kiwis out for just 126 runs to secure their 10th win in 11 test matches and the sixth one in a row.