Abhishek Sharma hits first ball for six a record seventh time in T20Is as India beat New Zealand in Christchurch

Abhishek Sharma doesn't ease into an innings. On Thursday, Oct. 22, at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, he took the T20I record for most sixes off the first ball faced.

New Zealand had posted 225/8. India needed 226. Sanju Samson faced the opening deliveries, and Abhishek took strike for the last ball of the first over, bowled by Matt Henry.

Henry went full and wide outside off stump. Abhishek swung an inside-out drive over extra cover and cleared the rope by 74 metres.

The record

It was his seventh first-ball six in T20I cricket. That moves him past Shinwari, who has six.

India's Suryakumar Yadav has five. Ireland's Paul Stirling, New Zealand's Colin Munro and the UAE's Mohammad Naveed have four each.

He also extended another mark. Abhishek now has 16 sixes in the opening over of a T20I innings, the most among players from Full Member nations. Stirling and West Indies' Evin Lewis have 13 each. Rohit Sharma and New Zealand's Martin Guptill have 12 apiece.

Before the match he had 143 sixes in 66 T20Is. The first-ball hit was his 144th.

The chase

The six set the tone, even though Abhishek did not stay long. He took a few deliveries to settle, then attacked Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne. India took 22 runs off Ferguson in one over and 26 off Milne in the next.

He fell in the sixth over of the innings. Michael Bracewell, an off-spinner, bowled a 92 kph arm ball. Abhishek tried another inside-out shot over cover, misjudged the bounce, and Milne held the catch at short third man.

He made 29 off 12 balls, a strike rate of 241.67.

The opening stand was worth 93 runs in 5.5 overs. India finished the powerplay at 94/1, joint third on the list of their highest first-six-over totals in a T20I.

Samson's fifty

Samson matched Abhishek's pace from the other end. He reached fifty off 23 balls, the fourth-fastest T20I fifty at Hagley Oval.

New Zealand's Glenn Phillips holds the venue record at 19 balls, against Bangladesh in 2022. Australia's Cameron White needed 21 balls against New Zealand in 2010. England's Harry Brook took 22 in 2025.

Samson was eventually dismissed for 67 off 33 balls.

Opening partnership history

The 93-run stand was the fifth 50-plus opening partnership for Abhishek and Samson in 2026. That equals India's record for the most in a calendar year.

KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma had five in 2021. Abhishek and Shubman Gill matched that in 2025. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma had four in 2018.

India went on to win by four wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Four games remain, and Abhishek still has the chance to extend his record.