Marco Jansen has now hit the most sixes by any batter in a Test innings in India. He has smashed seven sixes in the 93-run innings, which has left behind the likes of Vivian Richards and the great Matthew Hayden.
The Indian team started off their campaign well against South Africa on Day 1. Unlike the poor conditions of play at the Eden Gardens, the Guwahati track offered more help to the batters, with considerable help for spinners and seamers as well.
However, after Day 1 was dominated by an all-round brilliance, the second day leaned largely in favour of the Proteas. Two of their batters surpassed their former highest scores to reach new heights in the longest format of the game.
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Marco Jansen scripted a historic record with seven sixes
Marco Jansen came in to bat alongside centurion Senuran Muthusamy, who was then batting in his 60s. Jansen took an entirely different approach from ball one, as he smacked the Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Starting off in a groundbreaking effort, Marco Jansen smashed a half-century in no time, and in the innings, he smashed 4 sixes in no time off Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling. He did not stop even at Jasprit Bumrah and smacked a towering hit off the veteran’s bowling.
In his 93-run innings, he hit a total of 7 sixes and surpassed several records. He unfortunately missed a hundred after dragging a wide ball that kept low back into his stumps.
Marco Jansen surpasses legends on Indian soil
In his attempt of 7 sixes in an innings, he has surpassed West Indies legend Sir Vivian Richards and Australian great Matthew Hayden. He then further went on to level the tally with Shahid Afridi.
All this comes in the aspect of a major six-hitting record, as he became the second man to hit seven sixes against the subcontinent side in a Test innings. Shahid Afridi’s 19-year-old record was leveled.
His seven sixes also equalled a South Africa record, matching AB de Villiers (against Australia in 2009 in Cape Town) and Quinton de Kock (against the West Indies in Gros Islet in 2021). Only Tim Southee, batting at no. 9, has more sixes than him in an innings.
South African’s went past 450 in the Guwahati Test
With Senuran Muthusamy’s splendid maiden century and Marco Jansen’s exclusive scoring towards the back end of the innings and several other South African batters playing a supportive role, the Proteas went past the 480-run mark and ended their innings at 487.
They were just 13 runs short of 500, which would be the first such score by a visiting team in the Indian subcontinent in the history of the ICC World Test Championship, which was started in 2019. South Africa already leads the series and now the game as well.
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