Two years ago, on August 20, 2024, a match took place as part of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Region Qualifier A between two lesser-known teams—Samoa and Vanuatu. Although the match did not seem significant, it became a turning point in T20 cricket history.
The game was held at the Garden Oval stadium in Samoa. Prior to this moment, achieving 36 runs in a single over in men's T20 international matches was considered outstanding, but the Samoan Darius Visser surpassed this figure.
Visser, who was 30 years old at the time, achieved an incredible feat by scoring 39 runs in one over against Vanuatu, hitting six sixes and thus adding a new chapter to the T20I record books. Notably, this occurred in only his third international T20 match. Overall, he displayed explosive play, scoring 132 runs off 62 balls.
The 15th over of the Samoan team was supposed to be bowled by Dutchman Nalin Nipiko. This specific over entered history as a record-breaker. Visser started this over with three consecutive sixes, which he sent over the deep mid-wicket.
After this, Nipiko bowled an illegal delivery (no-ball) from the front foot. On the free hit, Visser continued his onslaught, sending the ball to the left side of the field for a six. The next ball was a dot ball because Visser's direct shot hit the stumps on the non-striker's end.
Nipiko's problems did not end. He again bowled an illegal delivery from the front foot, followed by another illegal delivery that was deemed invalid due to height. Visser sent this ball for a six through the fine leg. The last legal ball in the over was a low full toss, which Visser flicked past the deep square leg, securing another six. Thus, 39 runs were scored in this over (6, 6, 6, nb6, dot, nb, nb6, 6).
The record holder for the highest number of runs scored in a single over in T20 International belongs to Darius Visser from Samoa, who achieved this result against Vanuatu. Currently, Kushal Bhurtal from Nepal is second in this regard, having scored 37 runs. Other famous players, such as Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Rohit Sharma, and Rinku Singh, have also managed to score 36 runs in one over.