Southee goes past Ricky Ponting in elite company of 6 hitters, three shy of Dhoni

Tim Southee was on fire on day 5 of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against India as he produced the goods with both bat and ball. The right-arm pacer was off the boil in the first innings as he struggled to get his line and length right.

But he was back to his best in India's second inning as he removed both the openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma put the Indians in a spot of bother ahead of an exciting final day's play on Wednesday.

But before he got the red cherry in his hand, Southee did some damage with the bat too. Coming in at the fall of Kyle Jamieson's wicket, who had scored some quick runs to help the Kiwis reduce the deficit, Southee continued the onslaught.

Indian pacers struck in the first session and then kept taking wickets and it came down to the tailenders to help New Zealand secure a lead as captain Kane Williamson fought hard at the other end without scoring at a high rate.

Known for his six-hitting abilities, Southee launched two maximums during his 46-ball knock of 30 runs, which helped the Kiwis take a crucial 32-run lead.

With those two mighty hits, Southee now has 75 sixes in 79 Test matches and is just three sixes away from MS Dhoni's tally of 78 sixes. Southee is now on the 15th spot on the overall list, which is a huge achievement for a cricketer recognised for his bowling and not batting skills.

The list is headed by Southee's former captain Brendan McCullum, who hit 107 maximums in his 101-match career.

Southee has now hit more sixes in Test cricket than Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, AB de Villiers, Clive Lloyd, Ian Botham, Sanath Jayasurya and many more established batsmen of the game.