Meghalaya's Akash Choudhary goes 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 to smash fastest ever first-class fifty

Meghalaya's Akash Choudhary made history on Sunday, becoming only the third player in first-class cricket to smash six sixes in an over and scoring the fastest fifty in the format. He did so by hitting an unprecedented eight sixes in a row, en route to his 11-ball fifty.

Primarily a seamer, Choudhary achieved the feat on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group match against Arunachal Pradesh in Surat. Coming in at No. 8 with Meghalaya 576 for 6, he began his innings with a dot and two singles before smashing six sixes off left-arm spinner Limar Dabi in the 126th over of the innings. Thus, he joined an elite club that previously included only Garry Sobers and Ravi Shastri. Mike Procter had also hit six consecutive sixes but across two overs.

Choudhary continued his onslaught in the next over as well, hitting offspinner TNR Mohith for two back-to-back sixes to bring up his fifty. He broke the previous record - off 12 balls by Leicestershire's Wayne White against Essex in 2012 - by one ball. Choudhary's was also the second-fastest fifty in first-class cricket in terms of time taken (where data is available). He took nine minutes. The record belongs to Clive Inman, who took eight minutes for his 13-ball half-century for Leicestershire against Nottinghamshire in 1965.

Choudhary finished on 50 not out off 14 balls - the last three balls he faced were dots - as Meghalaya declared their innings on 628 for 6. In response, Arunachal Pradesh were all out for 73 with Choudhary taking one wicket. With Meghalaya enforcing the follow-on, Choudhary picked up two more wickets to leave the opposition at 29 for 3 at stumps.

Choudhary, 25, was playing his 31st first-class match. Before this, he had scored 503 runs at an average of 14.37 with two half-centuries. He has also played 28 List-A matches and 30 T20s. He had also smashed four sixes during his unbeaten 60 off 62 against Bihar in the previous game.

With the ball, he has taken 87 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 29.97, 37 in List-A (average 29.24) and 28 in T20s (average 26.25).