Cricket: Black Caps batsman Will Young falls agonisingly short of history in Super Smash

Will Young may have won the game for the Central Stags but he'll surely rue his missed chance at history. Photo / Photosport

Black Caps batsman Will Young won’t know whether to laugh or cry after his bid to hit six sixes in an over fell just short on the last delivery.

The Central Stags batsman crushed the first five deliveries from Auckland Aces’ Louis Delport over the Eden Park outer oval boundary with ease.

However, his batting blitz in the T20 game will leave him with an if-only feeling.

A pull shot from the spinner’s final delivery - a half-tracker, ripe for the picking by all measures - was caught by Danru Ferns on the boundary, denying Young a place alongside just 10 players to have achieved the mark in all of cricket history.

The great West Indian Garry Sobers first achieved the feat in a 1968 England county game and it was another 17 years before Indian great Ravi Shastri emulated Sobers in a domestic game.

The rise of T20 cricket has increased the rate and Canterbury’s Leo Carter hit six sixes off an over by Northern’s Anton Devcich two years ago.

It is somewhat of a statement innings from Young, who was among the test squad in Pakistan but did not make an appearance before being left out of the squads to play Pakistan and India in the shorter forms of the game.

What a crazy over!!
66666W 🔥

Will Young v Louis Delport

Watch Aces v Stags live and on-demand on Spark Sport#SparkSport #SuperSmashNZ pic.twitter.com/JPllm81Qsf

— Spark Sport (@sparknzsport) January 14, 2023

In the end, Young’s 67 from 27 deliveries led Central to a 29-run victory on the DLS system.

Auckland made 191 for 8, and Central were 108/2 after 9.2 overs when rain cut the Super Smash game short.