Kiwi batsman smashes record 23 sixes

Kiwi batsman Colin Munro has smashed the first-class record for the most sixes in an innings, his mark of 23 easily surpassing the previous record of 16 that had stood for 20 years.

The right-hander, who has played one Test, seven one-day internationals and 14 Twenty20s for New Zealand, hit 23 sixes and 17 fours in his incredible innings of 281 from just 167 balls on the first day of Auckland's match against Central Districts at MacLean Park in Napier.

Coming to the wicket with Auckland 2-64 having been sent into bat, Munro attacked from the outset and brought up his half-century from just 30 balls.

He reached his ninth first-class century from 68 balls – the fourth-fastest in New Zealand's first-class history – before he continued the onslaught, reaching 200 from 133 balls and passing 250 just 20 balls later.

He was eventually dismissed by part-time spinner Tom Bruce with more than 13 overs still remaining in the day.

"I got a couple away early and then just sort of progressed and kept the momentum going," Munro said at stumps.

"It was one of those innings where you've got to have a bit of luck."

The previous first-class record for the most sixes in the innings was held by four players.

Former Australia allrounder Andrew Symonds first set the mark of 16 in 1995 when, as a 20-year-old, he smashed 254 not out for Gloucestershire against Glamorgan.

Symonds held the record for 16 years before Englishman Graham Napier equalled him in 2011 with 16 sixes in his 130-ball innings of 196 for Essex against Surrey.

Later that year, Kiwi batsman Jesse Ryder cleared the boundary 16 times in his knock of 175 from 137 balls in New Zealand's warm-up match against Australia A at Allan Border Field in Brisbane.

And last year, Bangladeshi allrounder Muktar Ali hit 16 sixes in his 148-ball innings of 168 for Rajshahi Division in an extraordinary match against Chittagong Division just outside of Dhaka.

Rajshahi Division were struggling at 6-77 having elected to bat first before No.7 Farhad Reza (259), No.8 Sanjamul Islam (179) and No.9 Muktar launched an amazing recovery to lead their side to a total of 9-675 declared.

As impressive as Munro's innings was on Tuesday – he scored 281 in the space of 54.4 overs – he didn't come close to the record for the most runs in a day.

That mark is held by West Indies legend Brian Lara, whose world-record score of 501 not out for Warwickshire 21 years ago included an incredible 390 runs in one day.

The record for the most runs in a day in a match played in New Zealand was set by Roger Blunt in 1931, who hit 315 in a day for Otago against Canterbury.