39 runs from one over: Samoa batter breaks international record

History was created at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Sub Regional East Asia-Pacific Qualifier A event on Tuesday as Darius Visser helped break the record for most runs from one over of a men's T20I contest.

Visser smashed six sixes and was helped with three no balls from Vanuatu seamer Nalin Nipiko at Garden Oval No.2 in Apia, Samoa, as a total of 39 runs were scored from the 15th over of the contest.

The 39 runs conceded from the over was the most in the history of men's T20I, surpassing the famous 36-run feat achieved by Yuvraj Singh at the inaugural ICC Men's T20 World Cup in 2007 and more recent efforts from Kieron Pollard (2021), Nicholas Pooran (2024), Dipendra Singh Airee (2024) and Rohit Sharma / Rinku Singh (2024).

Visser smashed sixes from the first three deliveries of Nipiko's over and then cleared the boundary from the fourth legal delivery of the over to help bring up the hundred for his country.

A dot ball from the fifth ball of the over did little to dampen Visser's spirits as the 28-year-old smashed a six from the third no ball of the over and finished the over with another almighty blow to ensure he broke the record and became the first player from Samoa to score a century in international cricket.

Visser finished his innings with a total of 14 sixes - four adrift of the most hit by one batter in a men's T20I - and his individual score of 132 from just 62 deliveries was enough to ensure Samoa registered their second victory at the event and kept their hopes up of qualifying for the next edition of the T20 World Cup in 2026.