Tim Southee Equals Chris Gayle's Six-Hitting Record in His Farewell Test

New Zealand pacer Tim Southee equaled the record of six-hitting that former West Indies batter Chris Gayle had to his name on Saturday as his final Test appearance ended in a comprehensive win at the Seddon Park.

Now, Southee and Gayle share an equal number of sixes at 98 each in Test cricket only behind Adam Gilchrist (100), Brendon McCullum (107) and Ben Stokes (133).

Southee came to bat at 272/8 in the first innings of the third Test against England on the opening day. He was given a guard of honour by the England players for his farewell Test.

Southee faced Ben Stokes on the first ball of his innings and missed it completely. However, in Stokes's next over, Southee unleashed two massive sixes over mid-wicket and deep square-leg, followed by a single off the fifth ball. Continuing his explosive form, Southee hammered the first ball of Gus Atkinson's next over for six over mid-wicket and edged the subsequent delivery to the point boundary.

Atkinson finally had his revenge when Southee mistimed a slog and Brydon Carse grabbed the catch. Southee scored a blistering 10-ball 23 with a strike rate of 230, making it the third-fastest Test innings by a New Zealand batter with a 10-ball cut-off. That's quite a feat of course. The second highest in that list is once again Southee courtesy of his 10-ball 24 not out vs Sri Lanka in 2019.

In his innings, Southee's second six tied him with Jacques Kallis at fifth on the all-time Test six-hitting list with 97 sixes. The third six placed him level with Chris Gayle in fourth place. He had two more sixes and could become the fourth man to reach 100 Test sixes, beating Adam Gilchrist's tally by one hit.

Three distinguishing factors mark Southee's exceptional stats: he has never batted in the top seven, has a better rate of hitting sixes than any other, and is scoring more on sixes than fours.

New Zealand were 315/9 at stumps on Day 1 with Mitchell Santner not out on 50 while Will O'Rourke is yet to open his account. Earlier, captain Tom Latham scored 63 while Will Young and Kane Williamson accumulated 42 and 44, respectively.

For England, Matthew Potts and Gus Atkinson bagged three scalps each while Brydon Carse got hold of two dismissals.