‘Losing my mind’: New Zealand cricketer Trent Boult secures unlikely victory with last-ball six

New Zealand tailender Trent Boult sent the crowd into a wild frenzy when he stole victory from the jaws of defeat in a T20 thriller.

Who would you want facing the last ball of a T20 match with six runs required for victory?

It’s a question every cricket fan has been asked at some point, and responses rarely stray from a handful of short-format powerhouses.

MS Dhoni, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers – you’d back each of them to get the job done.

But what about New Zealand’s Trent Boult?

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On Thursday evening, the 32-year-old tailender was confronted with that very scenario, with six runs needed off the final delivery for Northern Brave to secure an unlikely victory against Canterbury in the Super Smash.

Boult had only struck one six in his previous 146 T20 matches. He boasted a career batting average of 6.09 and a pitiful strike rate of 77.90. The Kiwi’s highest individual score in T20 cricket was 8.

Canterbury seamer Ed Nuttall, who had already taken three wickets in the over, steamed in and bowled on a good length. Boult cleared the front leg and swung freely, watching as he cleared the mid-wicket boundary with ease.

The Mount Maunganui spectators went berserk, as did his Northern Districts teammates in the dugout.

TRENT BOULT!!
Needed 6 runs off the final ball and he delivered!#SparkSport#SuperSmashNZ@[e-mail]/GhiSy8DmPf

— Spark Sport (@sparknzsport) December 23, 2021

“I cannot believe what I’ve just seen! Trent Boult – I am losing my mind,” Spark Sport commentator Scotty Stevenson said.

Former Kiwi opener Mark Richardson added: “The game’s cruel … Nuttall’s day has gone from awful to amazing and back to awful.”

Boult became just the second cricketer to win a T20 match with six needed from the final ball with one wicket in hand, joining Ireland’s Stuart Poynter – who achieved the rare feat against the Netherlands in 2019.

This might be the most bizarre game of cricket I’ve ever seen. #SuperSmashNZ

— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) December 23, 2021

Earlier, Boult claimed figures of 2/21 with the ball, helping restrict Canterbury to 107 in the first innings.

“I’m not going to give you any coaching lessons of sorts, but it was a simple equation,” he told Spark Sport after the victory.

“Happy that it came off.

“It was a great game, to come down to the wire like that. Good to see a little crowd turn in tonight and I‘m glad we got across the line.”