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Malhotra the fourth man to hit six sixes in an over

The USA batsman joins an elite group of just four players to hit six sixes in an over in an international match

United States batsman Jaskaran Malhotra has joined an elite group of players to hit six sixes in an over in an international match, becoming just the fourth man to do so.

Batting at No.5 for the USA in their second one-day international against Papua New Guinea in Oman on Thursday, Malhotra cleared the ropes six times in the final over of their innings to finish unbeaten on 173.

Papua New Guinea paceman Gaudi Toka was the unfortunate bowler on the receiving end of Malhotra's onslaught as the Indian-born wicketkeeper batsman smashed 16 sixes in all.

Malhotra joined three others who have achieved the feat at international level.

South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs was the first to do so, against the Netherlands at the 2007 ODI Cup, before India's Yuvraj Singh followed suit at the T20 World Cup later that year, smacking England's Stuart Broad for six sixes.

After a 14-year gap, West Indian Kieron Pollard became the third man to achieve the feat in a T20 against Sri Lanka earlier this year.

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Malhotra, who counts West Indies great Viv Richards as his favourite player, also became the first man to score an ODI century for the US.

His 173 also surpassed South African AB de Villiers' 162 as he laid claim to the highest score ever by a No.5 batsman in ODIs.

Gibbs and de Villiers were quick to praise Malhotra via social media.

Malhotra follows the great Sir Garfield Sobers (1968), Ravi Shastri (1985), Gibbs, Yuvraj, Ross Whiteley (2017), Hazratullah Zazai (2018), Leo Carter (2020), Pollard and Thisara Perera (2021) as men to have achieved the feat in professional cricket.

PNG are using the series as preparation for next month's T20 World Cup, which the USA were unable to qualify for.