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6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6: Meghalaya player Akash Kumar blasts 8 sixes in a row, smashes fastest fifty in First-Class cricket
Akash Kumar Choudhary of Meghalaya hit eight sixes off consecutive deliveries, including six in an over, to bring up a 50 in just 11 balls vs Arunachal Pradesh.
Akash Kumar Choudhary of Meghalaya created cricket history at the Pithwala Ground in Surat, as he hit eight sixes in a row enroute to registering the fastest-ever half-century in First Class cricket history.
In a Ranji Trophy Plate Group match against Arunachal Pradesh, the lower-order batter took only nine minutes and eleven deliveries to reach the half-century, beating the previous record by a single ball. Kumar hit six sixes in an over, an eight consecutive sixes overall, to reach his half-century.
Kumar had come in at number 8 with the score already standing on 576/6, after a double century by Arpit Bhatiwara and two more centurions in the middle order. With the license to go for his shots, Kumar pushed the score to 628/6.
Oddly, the batter reached his 50 and faced three dot balls, as his carnage saw a stopping point and prompted Meghalaya to declare on that score. Choudhary finished with a score of 50*(14), with no fours but eight sixes to his name. He joins Ravi Shastri as the only two players with six sixes in an over in Ranji Trophy history.
Kumar's influence on the match didn’t end there: he opened the bowling with the new ball, and also took the first wicket of the second innings to add to a memorable day.
Fewest deliveries to reach 50 in First Class cricket
11 balls — Akash Kumar Choudhary: Meghalaya vs Arunachal Pradesh, Surat, 2025
12 balls — Wayne White: Leicestershire vs Essex, Leicester, 2012
13 balls — Michael van Vuuren: Eastern Province B vs Griqualand West, Cradock, 1984/85
14 balls — Ned Eckersley: Leicestershire vs Essex, Leicester, 2012
15 balls — Khalid Mahmood: Gujranwala vs Sargodha, Gujranwala, 2000/01
The feat breaks a record that stood for 13 years, after Wayne White took 12 deliveries to reach his half century in a County Championship match for Leicestershire against Essex. Remarkably, that match in 2012 saw White’s batting partner Ned Eckersley also bring up his half-century in just 14 deliveries, as the pair pillaged 77 runs in just 20 deliveries between them.
The previous record in the Ranji Trophy stood with Bandeep Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, who took 15 deliveries to reach his half-century while playing against Tripura in Agartala in 2015.
The current record for fastest half-century in Test cricket stands with Misbah ul Haq, who took 21 deliveries for his half-century in a Test match against Australia in Abu Dhabi.
