Shimron Hetmyer was at his belligerent best as he powered the Guyana Amazon Warriors to a 40-run victory over the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League 2024 match on Thursday.

The left-handed Shimron Hetmyer, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, top-scored in the match at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts with a scintillating 39-ball 91. His innings was studded with 11 sixes but astonishingly no fours.

“It was not planned,” Hetmyer said about his boundary-free knock. “I was just trying to play the ball on its merit, rather than trying to do something different.”

For the first time in T20 cricket history, a batter hit more than 10 sixes in an innings without a single four. Shimron Hetmyer's explosive performance surpassed the previous record held by Riki Wessels, who struck nine sixes without a boundary during a 2019 T20 Blast game for Nottinghamshire.

Hetmyer’s knock carried the Warriors to 266/7 in their allotted 20 overs, the second-highest total in the history of the CPL, falling short of matching the record by just one run.

In return, the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots were all out for 226 in 18 overs despite Andre Fletcher’s heroic 33-ball 81 with the bat. Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie was the pick of the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ bowlers picking up 3/34 in four overs as skipper Imran Tahir also chipped in with three wickets.

Batting first, the Warriors reached 53/1 at the end of the powerplay as Hetmyer walked into the middle in the seventh over. He smashed a huge six over long-on, off just the third ball he faced.

The 27-year-old Hetmyer, along with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, took the attack to the opposition crossing the 100-run mark in 10 overs. Hetmyer went on a six-hitting spree clubbing two more maximums in the 12th over. In the following over, the southpaw brought his fifty, in just 23 balls.

Hetmyer and Gurbaz stitched a massive 116-run partnership for the third wicket in just 47 balls before Gurbaz departed for a 37-ball 69. Hetmyer capped off his memorable knock with four sixes in the 19th over bowled by Odean Smith.

The Warriors plundered 45 runs in the last two overs going past the 250-run mark as the Patriots fell short in their pursuit.

“I think it was an innings of two halves,” said Hetmyer, the Player of the Match. “In the beginning, when me and Gurbaz were batting, we were going good. Then I had to pull it back a little bit after Gurbaz and Azam (Khan) got out. A little bit of tiredness came in slightly (as well).”

With two wins in two matches, Guyana Amazon Warriors are second in the CPL 2024 points table.

 

Most sixes in an innings by a batter without a four in T20 cricket

  • 11 - Shimron Hetmyer (GAW vs SKN) - 91 off 39, Basseterre 2024
  • 9 - Riki Wessels (Notts vs Worcs) - 55 off 18, Worcester 2018
  • 8 - Will Jacks (Surrey vs Kent) - 64 off 27, Canterbury 2019
  • 8 - Syed Aziz (Malaysia vs Singapore) - 55 off 20, Bangi 2022
  • 8 - Dipendra Singh Airee (Nepal vs Mongolia) - 52* off 10, Hangzhou 2023
  • 8 - Heinrich Klaasen (SRH vs KKR) - 63 off 29, Kolkata 2024