Cricket is built on the eternal duel between bat and ball, a contest where six runs off a legal delivery is usually considered the maximum reward for a batsman. Yet, Test cricket’s long and layered history
holds a few remarkable exceptions; moments when eight runs were scored off a single, perfectly legal ball, without the aid of a no-ball or wide.
The first such instance dates back to the 1928-29 Test in Melbourne, when England’s Patsy Hendren achieved the unprecedented. Facing Australian fast bowler Percy Hornibrook, Hendren struck a powerful shot that stayed inside the boundary. He and his partner ran four before the ball was fielded. However, a wild throw from near the ropes went unchecked and crossed the boundary, adding four overthrow runs to the tally and taking the score to eight from a single delivery.
India’s own brush with this rare feat came during the 1951-52 home series against England. Legendary batsman and then Test captain Vijay Hazare pulled off the feat in Mumbai against English fast bowler Brian Statham. Hazare drove the ball towards the off side, where fielder Fred Ridgway stopped it near the boundary. By then, Hazare and his partner Pankaj Roy had completed four runs. In an attempt to run Roy out, Ridgway overthrew, sending the ball past the boundary rope. The result was four runs off the bat and four more as overthrows, all credited to Hazare.
More than 50 years later, the anomaly resurfaced during the 2008-09 Test series between Australia and New Zealand. Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds pulled a delivery from fast bowler Iain O’Brien and ran three. Spotting a sluggish throw, Symonds pushed for another. Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum chased the ball and attempted a direct hit at the stumps, but missed, allowing the ball to roll away to the boundary. The overthrow added four more runs, taking the total to eight.
