Samoa’s batter Darius Visser shattered the men's T20I record for the most runs scored in a single over during the T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Region Qualifier against Vanuatu in Apia on Tuesday, finishing with an impressive 132 off 62 balls.
In just his third T20I appearance, the 28-year-old Visser hit six consecutive sixes in a 39-run over bowled by Nalin Nipiko. This marked the fourth occasion a player had struck six sixes in an over in men's T20Is and the first instance of a team scoring more than 36 runs in an over.
The record-breaking moment occurred in the 15th over of Samoa's innings. Visser started by launching the first three deliveries from Nipiko over the deep midwicket boundary. Nipiko then bowled a front-foot no-ball, which Visser sent for another six over the leg side. A dot ball followed when Visser's straight drive hit the stumps at the non-striker's end.
Nipiko overstepped again, and then delivered a second no-ball for height, which Visser pulled over fine leg for six. The over concluded with a low full toss outside off stump, which Visser flicked over deep square leg, completing the record 39-run over. Before this, there had been five instances of teams scoring 36 runs in an over in men's T20Is. The first to hit six sixes in a T20I was India’s Yuvraj Singh against England’s Stuart Broad during the 2007 T20 World Cup. This feat was later repeated by West Indies’ Kieron Pollard against Sri Lanka in 2021, and Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee earlier this year.
There were also two instances in 2024 where 36-run overs were achieved without six sixes: West Indies, with help from Nicholas Pooran, scored 36 against Afghanistan, and India’s Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh also scored 36 against Afghanistan.
Visser became the first Samoan batter to score a T20I century, and his 14 sixes rank as the fifth highest in a men's T20I innings. His score of 132, out of Samoa’s total of 174, also set a new record for the highest percentage of runs scored by a single batter in a team’s innings, with Visser contributing 75.86% of the runs. This surpassed the previous record of 75.1% held by Australia’s Aaron Finch. The next highest score for Samoa in that match was 16 by captain Caleb Jasmat.
According to a report from St George & Sutherland Leader, Visser, who grew up playing cricket in Sydney, originally started as a fast bowler. However, recurring injuries and stress fractures led him to switch to leg-spin and batting. In addition to his remarkable batting performance, Visser also took a wicket as Samoa restricted Vanuatu to 164 for 9, securing a ten-run victory.