“He will be mighty proud” – Tim Southee equals MS Dhoni’s big record

Tim Southee, captain of New Zealand, has hit the same number of sixes in Test cricket as Mahendra Singh Dhoni, former captain of India. Southee accomplished a personal milestone in an area that isn’t his core focus when his squad was in shambles.

With the last ball of the 40th over, after Southee had created some space, he smashed veteran England bowler Stuart Broad for six over deep mid-wicket. Southee, batting for the 131st time in Test cricket, has smashed 78 sixes, putting him tied for 12th place with Dhoni (78 sixes in 144 innings).

Southee (23 not out) will return to the crease alongside wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Blundell (25 not out) in the continuing second Test match against England at Basin Reserve, and the task of scoring 97 more runs, as a team, to escape the follow-on is a tough one. After their 39-ball, 35-run eighth-wicket stand, the hosts’ future seems bleak since they are still 297 runs down.

Notably, Southee (most sixes among specialist bowlers) tops the list of players with a batting average below 20 who have hit the most sixes in Test cricket history. Broad, who has struck 54 sixes in 235 Test innings, comes in just after Southee on this list.

Most Test sixes with batting average of <20
Batter	Innings	Runs	Average	Sixes
Tim Southee (NZ)	131	1898	15.94	78
Stuart Broad (ENG)	235	3573	18.22	54
Harbhajan Singh (IND)	145	2224	18.22	42
Shane Warne (AUS)	199	3154	17.32	37
Michael Holding (WI)	76	910	13.78	36
Dale Steyn (SA)	119	1251	13.59	36

Tim Southee equals MS Dhoni’s record

When it comes to New Zealand cricketers, Southee, 34 years old, comes in at number three. The right-handed batsman is third on the team, behind former captain Brendon McCullum (107) and former all-rounder Chris Cairns (87).

Southee will be entering his third season with the Kolkata Knight Riders, having been one of the eleven cricketers retained by KKR before the Indian Premier League 2023 auction last year.

Southee, who made his professional debut with Chennai Super Kings 12 years ago under Dhoni, played for them for a single season, during which he took four wickets in five matches at an average of 41.50 with an economy rate of 8.74 and a strike rate of 28.50.

Southee has played for many teams in the IPL, including Rajasthan Royals (2014-15), Mumbai Indians (2016-17), and Royal Challengers Bangalore (2018-19). In 52 matches, he has dismissed 45 batsmen at an average of 36.96, an economy rate of 8.53, and a strike rate of 26.