Meet The First-Ever Sri Lankan To Strike Six Towering Consecutive Sixes!

It might not have come in an international cricket contest. It may not have been a part of some world cup event. And guess what- it may not have been a part of a T20 cricket league as integral to the sport’s favorite current format as the franchise-based IPL or the CPL. But it’s surely a feat that shall be recited for time immemorial whenever someone will recount a true blue Sri Lankan success story.

After all, it’s something that wasn’t achieved even by the timeless greats of the sport hailing from the famed island jewel that is Sri Lanka, whether one speaks of Sanath Jayasuriya, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, or even Mahela Jayawardene. In striking six back-to-back sixes, Colombo-born Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera has become the first cricketer from the island region to achieve the envious milestone.

And it truly is a milestone of sorts. There aren’t many in the great game of cricket who have done the enviable: that is striking six back to back sixes. But as Thisara Perera went to write his name in cricketing record books, he was representing the Sri Lankan army team. An inning laced with brutal aggression and power hitting, the left-handed big hitter creamed as many as eight overall sixes during his vital knock of 52 runs, scored of just 13 deliveries, this last weekend.

Thisara Perera unleashed his true batting potential against the Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club and in the process of clearing ropes for a remarkable six consecutive occasion, has become only the second international cricketer since Kieron Pollard to achieve the great feat.

Now here’s something one may find interesting. It wasn’t that long ago that West Indies limited-overs captain (ODI, T20), Kieran Pollard hit six back-to-back sixes and that too against Sri Lanka during a T20 held in the Caribbean. The end result of a big hitting effort was the West Indies winning a tight run-chase in a T20 international.

It was surely an evening that Akila Dhananjaya may do well to put behind him, having surprisingly also been the occasion where he successfully clinched an international hat-trick before finding the bludgeoning blade of the belligerent Trinidadian.

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Overall, there are only eight other batsmen to have reached this precious landmark, of which three famous names are those of Ravi Shastri, Herschelle Gibbs and Yuvraj Singh.

In the imminent future, Thisara Perera shall turn 32 and his team shall truly look onto its hero to come strong with the bat in the forthcoming T20 world cup, slated to be held in India later this year. While he is not a part of the current Test squad that is battling the West Indians at Antigua, Thisara Perera was part of the T20 leg of Sri Lanka’s tour of the Caribbean, the games taking place at the Coolidge Cricket ground.

But for now, the tall all-round talent should celebrate his heroics. Perera has, thus far, 166 one-day internationals along with 84 T20Is. We tip our hat to the mighty Sri Lankan star. Many congratulations for this achievement Thisara Perera.

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