England's record-breaking win over the West Indies on Wednesday means the current one-day international series has featured three of the top four all-time innings in terms of sixes hit.
England launched 24 maximums, the most ever in an ODI innings, before the hosts responded with 22 in a valiant losing effort.
The record England broke was only a week old, having been set by the Windies in the first match of the series, while there have only ever been six ODI innings featuring 20 or more sixes.
A series with six appeal
The tone was set from the start of the first innings of the current series by West Indies opener Chris Gayle, who cleared the ropes a dozen times during his 135 in Bridgetown.
Darren Bravo and Ashley Nurse added four and three respectively as the Windies hit a then-record 23 sixes, only for England to chase down their 360 for eight with eight balls to spare after centuries from Jason Roy and Joe Root.
The second ODI was a slightly more restrained affair and the third was washed out before England blasted 418 for six in Grenada to rewrite the record books again. Jos Buttler hit half of their 24 sixes, with the others coming from fellow centurion Eoin Morgan (six) and openers Jonny Bairstow (four) and Alex Hales (two).
Gayle slammed 14 sixes in his 162 as he moved past 10,000 ODI runs and gave his side hope of an extraordinary chase, but – despite their 22 sixes in all – they came up just short.
Anderson lifts the New Year gloom
21 overs complete – Anderson 131 off 47 balls – THE WORLD'S FASTEST. BLACKCAPS finish 283-4. Your mind blown? #NZvWI ^CE
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) January 1, 2014
The previous record broken by the Windies in the first ODI had stood since January 1, 2014, when New Zealand – and Corey Anderson in particular – launched an astonishing onslaught.
In a game against the Windies reduced by rain to 21 overs a side, the Black Caps were given a roaring start by Jesse Ryder's century and Brendon McCullum's 33 from 11 balls.
Anderson's hundred came up in 36 balls, at the time a record in all international cricket, and he finished with 131 from 47 with six fours and 14 sixes, lifting them to 283 for four as Ravi Rampaul's three overs went for 64.
England hit 21 sixes in their ODI-record 481 for six against Australia in June 2018 – centurions Bairstow and Hales claimed five apiece and Roy four before Morgan hit six sixes in his 67 from 30 balls.
South Africa managed 20 in their 438 for four against India in October 2015, AB De Villiers scored 11 of them as he made one of three centuries in the innings.
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