On This Day: “I will cut your throat off” – Andrew Flintoff told Yuvraj Singh before iconic six sixes

Yuvraj Singh and Andrew Flintoff. (Photo Source: ICC/YT)

Yuvraj Singh scripted history 18 years ago on this day in a T20 World Cup fixture between India and England at Kingsmead, Durban. The legendary all-rounder slammed six sixes in an over against Stuart Broad, lighting up the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup with his exemplary display of big hitting.

Yuvraj walked in to bat with India being on 155/3 after 16.4 overs, joining skipper MS Dhoni at the crease. The southpaw got off to a blistering start, hitting three boundaries off his first six balls, scoring 14 runs. However, the Chandigarh-born went into overdrive after getting into an altercation with star England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.

“That was a lucky shot. I’m gonna cut your throat off!” Flintoff yelled at Yuvraj after being frustrated by the flurry of boundaries he hit. However, the Indian stalwart wasn’t going to take the insult lying down. “You see this bat? You know where I’m gonna hit you with it,” fired back the then 25-year-old Yuvraj.

In the 19th over of the match, Yuvraj channelled his anger into his batting and took Broad to the cleaners. The right-arm speedster, who was only 21 years old at the time, was left clueless amid the exemplary hitting from Yuvraj.

The first two sixes went towards the leg-side. Broad went outside the off-stump for the third delivery, and Yuvraj cleared long-off with ease. The England seamer completely lost the plot and delivered a high full toss outside off-stump for the following delivery. The last two deliveries were hit over the leg-side boundary as Yuvraj became only the second batter after Herschelle Gibbs to hit six sixes in an over in international cricket.

Yuvraj was eventually dismissed in the following over by Flintoff. However, the former had already done the damage. The left-handed batter smashed 58 runs off 16 deliveries, belting three fours and six sixes. India finished on 218/4 before restricting England to 200/6. The Men in Blue went on to win the title, beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final in Johannesburg.

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