Liam Livingstone etched his name in Indian Premier League (IPL) history after he hit the 1,000th six of the ongoing season. This is the first time more than 1,000 sixes have been hit in a single season of IPL. After the completion of the league stage, the tally of sixes is now 1,001. With four more games to go, the number of sixes in the season is only expected to go up.
Livingstone hit the 1,000th six of the tournament in the 15th over of Punjab Kings (PBKS) run chase against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The Englishman hit Romario Shepherd for a 97-metre six as the ball went out of the stadium.
The previous highest number of sixes hit in a single was in 2018. A total of 872 sixes were hit in the 2018 edition. It is followed by 784 sixes in IPL 2019, 734 sixes in IPL 2020 and 731 sixes in the 2012 edition of the league.
In his match-winning unbeaten 49-run knock off 22 deliveries, Livingstone hit five towering sixes that helped PBKS beat SRH by five wickets with 29 balls to spare to end the season on a high.
The hard-hitting English batter hit a total of 34 sixes in the season. This is the joint second-most sixes hit by a PBKS batter in a season. Chris Gayle has hit 34 sixes for PBKS in 2019 whereas Glenn Maxwell holds the top spot with 36 sixes in 2014 edition.
This was Livingstone's best IPL season after playing a handful of matches for previous franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2020 and 2021.
The 28-year-old scored 437 runs from 14 games at an average of 36.42 including four half-centuries. He missed his fifth half-century of the season by one run against SRH. Also, he has maintained a stupendous strike rate of 182.08 in the season.