Tim Southee matches Chris Gayle's extraordinary six-hitting record in final Test for New Zealand.

In his last Test match, New Zealand's Tim Southee made history by matching the record set by former West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle for hitting the most sixes in the format. Leading the pack is Ben Stokes with a whopping 133 maximums, closely followed by Brendon McCullum with 107 and Adam Gilchrist with 100. Southee and Gayle are now tied at 98 sixes each in Test cricket, solidifying their place among the top hitters in the game.

Southee and New Zealand are currently up against England in the third and final Test of their three-match series, at Seddon Park. Day 1 began with England winning the toss and opting to bowl. Openers Tom Latham and Will Young gave the hosts a strong start. Captain Latham registered 63 off 135 balls and Young smacked 42 off 92 deliveries. Meanwhile, Kane Williamson, at no. 3, added 44 off 87 balls. Also, Mitchell Santner got a half-century, slamming 50 off 54 balls. Meanwhile, Southee hit 23 off 10 balls, including a four and three sixes, as New Zealand reached 315/9 at Stumps. Santner (50*) and Will O’Rourke (0*) remained unbeaten and will resume batting on Day 2.

On the opening ball of his innings, Southee faced Stokes and missed it totally. Then he smacked two sixes over mid-wicket and deep square leg in Stokes’ next over. For his third six, he smacked Gus Atkinson over mid-wicket.

During his playing career, the 36-year-old has captained New Zealand in all formats. He is the third New Zealand bowler to reach 300 Test wickets, and made his debut at the age of 19 in 2008. On his Test debut vs England, he took a five-wicket haul and also smacked 77 off 40 balls in the second innings.

He was part of the New Zealand team that won the 2019-2021 WTC title. He also has the highest international Test batting strike rate among batters with a minimum of 2000 Test runs. His batting career strike rate is 83.12. He also finished as runners-up with New Zealand in the 2015 and 2019 World Cup finals.