World Cup History: Top three most expensive overs in the tournament
Sometimes, it only takes an over to change the course of a cricket match. The bowler only needs to miss his mark by a whisker and the batsman is more than happy to smash the ball over the boundary. Batting friendly tracks, shorter boundaries and bigger bats have not helped the bowlers either.
Over the years, the World Cup has been the stage for some of the most destructive batsmen to hit the hapless bowlers all over the park. These batsmen have displayed their ability to change the momentum of the game in a single over. With the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 off and rolling, we have a look at the 3 of the most expensive overs in World Cup history.
#1 Daan van Bunge to Herschelle Gibbs - 36 runs
Herschelle Gibbs grabbed the headlines as he became the first man to hit 6 sixes of an over in a World Cup match. This memorable feat came in the 2007 World Cup match against minnows Netherlands. The Proteas were 114 for 2 when Gibbs came in to join Jacques Kallis at the crease. Gibbs was circumspect in the early part of his innings and was batting on 32 off 30 deliveries when Daan van Bunge came on to bowl the 30th over.
Gibbs stepped out and dispatched the first ball over long-on for a monstrous six. The next ball was clobbered down the ground for a flat six. The third ball was a quicker delivery and Gibbs lofted it over long-off for another maximum. Van Bunge might have thought that Gibbs would rotate the strike after smashing the first 3 deliveries but the South African batsman was in no mood for singles.
Van Bunge aimed at bowling a yorker, but it turned into a low full toss and Gibbs was more than happy to hit it over the mid wicket boundary. The Dutch bowler kept on bowling quicker and quicker which made things worse for him as the next delivery was smashed straight down the ground for a six. Gibbs showed no mercy and smashed the last ball over mid wicket for another six.
Kallis' century and Gibbs' mind-boggling innings took the Proteas to 353. South Africa's pace battery was too much to handle for Netherlands as they managed to score only 132 and South Africa ended up winning the match by 221 runs.
Over: 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
Also read - World cup most man of the match