In the ODI series opener at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand suffered a batting collapse after Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to bowl first. New Zealand could not put up a fight as Indian bowlers bounced them out. But no.11 batter Blair Tickner decided to go down swinging. Tickner, who had not hit a single six in his international cricket career before, smashed four sixes in the innings. He equalled the record for most sixes by a no.11 batter in ODIs.
Only two other no.11 batters had hit four sixes in an innings in ODI history. Pakistan's Mohammad Amir had hit four sixes in his 28-ball 58 in a losing cause against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, in 2016. The second batter on the list is from Pakistan as well.
Pakistan's Naseem Shah is on the list too. In the Hamilton ODI last year, he came in as a concussion substitute for Haris Rauf. He smashed four sixes in his 44-ball 51. Coincidentally, no.11 batters' four sixes in their respective ODI matches ended in a losing cause.
Tickner arrived at the crease when the BlackCaps were 146/9 after 35.1 overs, with Glenn Phillips falling for a 51-ball 30 to Arshdeep Singh. Tickner faced three dot balls before getting off the mark with a boundary. His first six came against Brar. He smashed Brar over a very short long-on boundary for a maximum.
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In Arshdeep's next over, he dispatched the slot delivery over the long-on fence. Then, he hit a six over long-off. Arshdeep followed it up with a wide and a yorker. On the fourth ball, Tickner hit another six over long-on. Arshdeep ended up conceding 23 runs in his last over after claiming a four-fer.
In the next over, Brar was up for the challenge. He hit Tickner on the grille. Just one run was scored off the over. In the 41st over, Brar bowled a bouncer and had a verbal exchange with Tickner. Brar was trying to teach Tickner how to play a pull shot. He followed it up with another bouncer. Tickner cleared his front leg and tried to play the pull shot. All he could manage was a faint edge, and wicketkeeper KL Rahul completed the catch. Tickner had a smile on his face as he was outsmarted, whereas Brar celebrated in an animated manner. Brar departed after scoring 34 runs from 23 balls as New Zealand were bowled out for 184 in 40.2 overs, their fourth-lowest ODI score against India at home.
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Tickner misses breaking Kiwi record
Tickner needed just one more run to break the record for most runs in an ODI innings by a no.11 Kiwi batter. Before Tickner, three no.11 New Zealand batters had scored 34 runs. In 1994, Chris Pringle scored an unbeaten 22-ball 34 against West Indies in Guwahati in Wills World Series match.
In 2007, Jeetan Patel scored 34 runs from 38 balls against Sri Lanka in the ODI World Cup 2007 semifinal clash. Seven years later, Mitchell McClenaghan scored 34 runs from 43 balls against South Africa in Mount Maunganui.
Tickner had Garner's record in sight too
Tickner's 34-run knock is also the second-highest ODI score by a no.11 batter against India. The record belongs to Joel Garner with a 37-run knock at Manchester, Old Trafford, in a 1983 World Cup group stage clash.
A rare outing for Tickner
This was Tickner's highest score in international cricket. He has batted 19 times in international cricket. His previous best was 18 not out.
Notably, Tickner had hit just nine sixes in his cricket career (first-class cricket, List A and T20s combined). He had just three sixes in white-ball domestic cricket before November 4. He made his professional cricket debut in March 2015.
Tickner's previous white-ball highest score was 24 not out in the One-Day format.
Tickner almost top scores for New Zealand
Apart from Tickner, two other Kiwi batters scored in 30s against New Zealand in the ODI series opener. After an early reprieve, Tim Seifert scored 38 runs from 43 balls. An in-form Phillips contributed 30 runs from 51 balls.
No wicket for Tickner
Tickner was brought into the attack as first-change bowler in the 10th over. he bowled just one over before rain played spoilsport. He was hit for two fours by skipper Gill before rain interrupted play again. In his third over, Tickner was hit for a six by Virat Kohli. He conceded three boundaries in his fourth over. He bowled a total of four overs in a rain-affected match and conceded 38 runs. He could not create a single wicket-taking opportunity.