Bevon Jacobs hit 21 sixes in an unbeaten 202, and Auckland still lost to Otago

The 21 sixes are a New Zealand record for a List A innings, and two short of the world mark. Jacobs went into the last over, bowled by Zac Cumming, on 172. Five of the six balls went over the rope, and he walked off on 202.

He still finished on the losing side. Otago got to 338 for 5 with five balls left, and wicketkeeper Max Chu hit the winning boundary on his way to 75 not out off 55 balls.

Nobody else got past 46

Auckland were 24 for 2 in the sixth over when Jacobs came in, and 39 for 3 soon after. Lachlan Stackpole’s 46 off 45 was the next best score in the innings, and he and Jacobs added 100 for the fourth wicket. Ryan Harrison made 32 in a stand of 94 for the fifth. Only four of Jacobs’ team-mates reached double figures.

Jacobs had never made a List A hundred before. The first one took him 97 balls. The second took 40. Sixes brought him 126 of his 202 runs, with seven fours on top, and Cumming’s five overs went for 75 without a wicket.

The records he did and didn’t break

D’Arcy Short still holds the List A record with 23 sixes, hit in his 257 for Western Australia against Queensland at Hurstville Oval in September 2018. Jacobs went past the 17 managed by Gerrie Snyman and Eoin Morgan into second place on that list.

The 202 is the highest one-day score by an Auckland batter, beating Colin Munro’s 174 not out from the 2017-18 season. It is also only the third double hundred in Ford Trophy history, after Jamie How’s 222 and Chad Bowes’ 205.

And this was supposed to be a better tournament for bowlers. New Zealand Cricket is trialling one ball per innings in the first five rounds of this season’s Ford Trophy, rather than the two new balls ODIs use until the 35th over, partly to give bowlers a better chance of reverse swing at the death. This was the fifth round.

Otago top the table going into February

Jacobs is 24. Mumbai Indians bought him for Rs 30 lakh at the IPL 2025 mega auction, when he was uncapped, and he has since played 16 T20Is for New Zealand, averaging 31.90 at a strike rate of 144.34. Six of those games have been against India this year, with a top score of 58. He has not played an ODI.

For the table, though, Otago’s chase is what counts. The game was billed as a top-of-the-table match, and the win leaves Otago first on 18 points, with four wins from five, when the Ford Trophy breaks until February.

Follow more cricket news from around the world