Incricket, theboundary is theperimeter of aplaying field. It is also the term given to ascoring shot where the ball is hit to, or beyond, that perimeter, which generally earns four or six runs for thebatting team.

Briefly, if the ball is struck by the batter and rolls or bounces over the boundary (or just touches it) it is known as a "four", and scores four runs, whereas if it flies over (or touches) the boundary, without touching the ground before that, it is called a "six", and scores six runs. There are rules covering every possible situation, including the fairly common one when a fielder is in the air beyond the boundary when he or she catches or strikes the ball with his or her hand or another part of the body.

The boundary is the edge of the playing field, or the physical object (often a rope) marking the edge of the field. In low-level matches, a series of plastic cones or flags are sometimes used. Since the early 2000s, the boundaries at professional matches are often a series of padded cushions carrying sponsors' logos strung along a rope. If one of these is accidentally moved during play (such as by a fielder sliding into the rope in an attempt to stop the ball) the boundary is considered to remain at the point where that object first stood. The boundary is at least 195 feet (59 m) from the centre of the field in men's international cricket,^[1] and at least 180 feet (55 m) from the centre of the field in women's international cricket.^[2]

When thecricket ball is inside the boundary, it is live. When the ball is touching the boundary, grounded beyond the boundary, or being touched by afielder who is himself either touching the boundary or grounded beyond it, it isdead and the batting side usually scores four or six runs for hitting the ball over the boundary. Because of this rule, fielders near the boundary attempting to intercept the ball while running or diving often flick the ball back in to the field of play rather than pick it up directly, because their momentum could carry them beyond the rope while holding the ball. They then return to the field to pick the ball up and throw it back to the bowler.

A law change in 2010 declared that a fielder could not jump from behind the boundary and, while airborne, parry the ball back on to the field.^[3][4]

A boundary is the scoring of four or sixruns from a single delivery, with the ball having left the field, and its first bounce having occurred either entirely within the playing field (in the case of four runs) or not (six runs); these events are known as afour or asix, respectively.^[5]

Occasionally, there is an erroneous use of the term boundary as a synonym for a "four". For example, sometimes commentators say such as "There were seven boundaries and three sixes in the innings." The correct terminology would be "There were ten boundaries in the innings of which seven were fours and three were sixes."^{[citation needed]}

When this happens the runs are automatically added to the batsman's and his team's score and the ball becomesdead. If the ball did not touch the bat or a hand holding the bat, four runs are scored as the relevant type ofextra instead; six runs cannot be scored as extras, even if the ball clears the boundary, which is in any case extremely unlikely.

Any runs the batsmen completed by running before the ball reached the edge of the field do not count, unless they are greater than the number of runs that would be scored by the boundary, in which case it is the runs from the boundary that are discounted.

The scoring of a four or six by a good aggressive shot displays a certain amount of mastery by the batsman over the bowler, and is usually greeted by applause from the spectators. Fours resulting from an edged stroke, or from a shot that did not come off as the batsman intended, are considered bad luck to the bowler. As a batsman plays himself in and becomes more confident as his innings progresses, the proportion of his runs scored in boundaries often rises.

An average first-class match usually sees between 50 and 150 boundary fours.^{[citation needed]} Sixes are less common, and usually fewer than 10 (and sometimes none) will be scored in the course of a match.

The Laws allow for captains to change the boundary allowances (number of runs scored through either type of boundary) through a pre-match agreement.

Four runs are scored if the ball bounces, or rolls along the ground, before touching or going over the edge of the field. If it does not touch the edge of the field, it must touch the ground beyond it. For example, if a batsman hits the ball and it bounces before the boundary and carries over the boundary in flight, a fielder can still bring the ball back into the field of play as long as any part of the fielder's body does not touch the ground outside of the boundary.

Four runs are scored asoverthrows if a fielder gathers the ball and then throws it so that no other fielder can gather it before it reaches the boundary. In this case, the batsman who hit the ball scores however many runs the batsmen had run up to that time, plus four additional runs, and it is counted as a boundary. If the ball has not come off the bat or hand holding the bat, then the runs are classified as 'extras' and are added to the team's score but not to the score of any individual batsman.

Four runs (or more) can also be scored by hitting the ball into the outfield and running between thewickets. Four runs scored in this way is referred to as an "all run four" and is not counted as a boundary.

Six runs are scored if the ball does not bounce before passing over the boundary in the air, and then touches the boundary or the ground beyond it.^[6]

Prior to 1910, six runs were only awarded for hits out of the ground,^[7] with custom in Australia to award five runs for clearing the boundary.^[8]

The record for most sixes by an individual in a Test match innings is 12, which was first achieved byPakistani all-rounderWasim Akram during an innings of 257* againstZimbabwe in October 1996 atSheikhupura, and was later equalled byYashasvi Jaiswal during an innings of 214 againstEngland in February 2024 atRajkot. TheOne Day International record for most sixes hit in an innings by an individual is held by Eoin Morgan, who hit 17 sixes against Afghanistan atOld Trafford on 18 June 2019 in his innings of 148.Ben Stokes currently holds the record for most sixes in a Test career with 131.^[9]Shahid Afridi holds the record formost sixes in an ODI career with 351 sixes in 398 matches.^[10]

Although official records for the longest six do not exist due to the difficulties of accurately measuring such distances, there is some evidence to show Australia’sBrett Lee struck a six 130–135 meters against West Indies in a Test match at the Gabba in 2005, although he used acarbon fibre–reinforced bat, which was later banned.^[6]

The record for the most sixes in a Test match is 37, which occurred during a 2019 Test match betweenIndia andSouth Africa inVisakhapatnam.^[11]

The record for most sixes in a One Day International is 46, which was achieved in a match betweenWest Indies andEngland at St George's on 27 February 2019.^[12] The equivalent record inTwenty20 Internationals was set atCenturion Park, 35 sixes were hit during a match between South Africa and West Indies on 26 March 2023.^[13]

In 2012, during theFirst Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka, West Indies cricketerChris Gayle became the first player to hit a six off the first ball in a Test cricket match.^[14]

As of November 2022^[update], this feat has occurred seven times in top level domestic cricket.^[15][16]

As of August 2024, this feat has occurred six times in international cricket.^[17] No batsman has achieved this feat in Tests.

Date	Batsman	Bowler	Venue	Format	Tournament/series	Notes
16 March 2007	Herschelle Gibbs	Daan van Bunge	Warner Park Sporting Complex,Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis	ODI	2007 ICC Cricket World Cup	[8]
19 September 2007	Yuvraj Singh	Stuart Broad	Kingsmead Cricket Ground,Durban, South Africa	T20I	2007 ICC World Twenty20	[9]
3 March 2021	Kieron Pollard	Akila Dananjaya	Coolidge Cricket Ground,Osbourn, Antigua and Barbuda	T20I	Sri Lankan cricket team in the West Indies in 2020–21	[10]
9 September 2021	Jaskaran Malhotra	Gaudi Toka	Oman Cricket Academy Ground Turf 1,Al Amarat, Oman	ODI	Papua New Guinean cricket team in Oman in 2021–22	[11]
13 April 2024	Dipendra Singh Airee	Kamran Khan		T20I	2024 ACC Men's Premier Cup	[12]
20 August 2024	Darius Visser	Nalin Nipiko	Faleata Oval 2,Apia, Samoa	T20I	2024–25 ICC Men's T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifier	[13]

1. ^ On 31 August 1968, Sobers became the first man to hit six sixes off a single six-ballover infirst-class cricket.^[18] The over was bowled byMalcolm Nash inNottinghamshire's first innings againstGlamorgan atSt Helen's inSwansea. Nash was aseam bowler but decided to try his arm atspin bowling.^[19] This achievement was caught on film.^[20]
2. ^ On 10 January 1985,Bombay's Shastri equalled Sobers' record of hitting six sixes in an over in first-class cricket, off the bowling ofBaroda'sTilak Raj, at the Wankhede.^[21]
3. ^ On 23 July 2017,Worcestershire's Whiteley hit six sixes off six legal deliveries plus one wide to take the total number of runs in that over to 37 off bowlerKarl Carver ofYorkshire atHeadingley during aNatWest T20 Blast match.^[22]
4. ^ On 14 October 2018, Zazai hit six sixes in an over off the bowling ofAbdullah Mazari forKabul Zwanan in a match againstBalkh Legends in the2018–19 Afghanistan Premier League, in Sharjah.^[23]
5. ^ On 5 January 2020, in the2019–20 Super Smash match between Canterbury and Northern Districts in Christchurch, Carter hit six sixes in one over off the bowling ofAnton Devcich.^[24]
6. ^ On 29 March 2021, in the2020–21 Major Clubs Limited Over Tournament match betweenSri Lanka Army Sports Club andBloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club at the Army Ground in Panagoda, Army Sports Club's captain Perera hit six sixes in one over off the bowling ofDilhan Cooray.^[25] This was the second instance in a List A match, and the first in a domestic match.
7. ^ On 28 November 2022, Gaikwad became the first batsman to hit seven sixes in an over, forMaharashtra againstUttar Pradesh in the second quarter-final of theVijay Hazare Trophy inAhmedabad. The bowler wasShiva Singh.^[26]
8. ^ On 16 March 2007, in a match betweenSouth Africa and theNetherlands in Basseterre at the2007 Cricket World Cup, Gibbs became the first person to hit six sixes off an over in aOne Day International match. The over was bowled by Dutchleg-spinnerDaan van Bunge.^[27]
9. ^ On 19 September 2007, during a match between England and India in theinaugural T20 World Cup inKingsmead, Singh became the first batsman to hit six sixes in an over in a T20 International, in an over bowled byStuart Broad.^[28]
10. ^ On 3 March 2021, West Indian captain Pollard hit six sixes in an over off the bowling ofAkila Dananjaya in the first T20I betweenSri Lanka and the West Indies at theCoolidge Cricket Ground. Dananjaya had taken a hat-trick in his previous over.^[29]
11. ^ On 9 September 2021, Malhotra of the United States hit six sixes in one over, off the bowling of Papua New Guinea'sGaudi Toka in Muscat, becoming thesecond cricketer to achieve this in ODIs. He became the first USA batsman to make an ODI century.^[30]
12. ^ On 13 April 2024, during a match between Nepal and Qatar in the2024 ACC Men's Premier Cup in Muscat, Airee became the third batsman to hit six sixes in an over in a T20 International, in an over bowled byKamran Khan.^[31]
13. ^ On 20 August 2024, during a2024–25 ICC Men's T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifier match againstVanuatu in Apia, Darius Visser ofSamoa broke the record for the most runs in a T20I over, hitting 39 runs off the over, including six sixes. The bowler wasNalin Nipiko who bowled three no-balls in the 15th over of Samoa's innings. Visser made 132 runs off 62 balls (five fours and 14 sixes), becoming the first Samoan to score a T20I century.^[32][33]

• Home run - similar to a six.

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