New Delhi: September 19, 2007, a date which Indian cricket fans can never forget. It was on this very day back when former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh set Kingsmead on fire hitting six sixes in an over bringing the world to its feet.
In the first edition of the T20 World Cup in South Africa, India were in a tight spot as they had to beat England in their group game to keep their chances alive of making it to the semi-finals in Durban.
The drama began when the Men in Blue were on 171/3 at the end of the 18th over in their first innings. With Yuvraj and then skipper M.S. Dhoni at the crease the duo was looking to finish off on a high by collecting as many runs in the death overs.
Yuvraj smashed Andrew Flintoff for two fours in the 18th over, which infuriated the England bowler. The pair got involved in a big altercation which came to an end after the intervention from the on-field umpires.
However, what the verbal altercation did was that it pumped up Yuvraj and it was Stuart Broad who bore the brunt of his onslaught in the very next over.
In the 19th over of the innings, the left-handed batsman from Punjab made sure England paid the price for their over-aggressiveness and hit six maximums of consecutive deliveries from Broad.
The first one went over deep mid-wicket, the next over backward square leg, the third one over wide long-off, then a swat over deep point to a full toss, the fifth one a hoick over square leg and finally a massive hit over wide long-on.
In the process, the Punjab-lad rocketed away to a 12-ball half-century and it was also the first time it happened in a T20I. It remains the fastest half-century till date in the shortest format of the game.
The southpaw eventually finished on 58 (three 4s and seven 6s) in 16 balls as India amassed 218 for 4. In reply, England were restricted to 200/6 giving and conceded an 18-run defeat.
India eventually went on became World T20 champions when they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in a thrilling final September 24 in Johannesburg.
IANS
