When Mitch Marsh is in form, the sound of the ball hitting the bat sounds like a pistol firing.
While the noise of a capacity MCG crowd made it impossible to hear that sweet sound, one imagines a sonic boom might have been caused by the record-breaking six he smashed into the second tier of the famous ground on Friday night.
The Australian captain had played second fiddle to Travis Head, who made a blistering 28, but made the most of a short-pitched gift from Harshit Rana to pull the Indian paceman for a monster six in the fourth over of the Aussie innings.
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Marsh’s six was measured at 124m, and would have been far further had it not nearly dislodged the canapes and champagne glasses from the corporates in the stands enjoying a dominant Australian performance in a boisterous atmosphere.
As a result, Shahid Afrida’s 153m monster against South Africa in 2013 stands safe as the longest on record, but the Western Australian’s almighty MCG blow ranks among the biggest sixes ever hit.
According to Fox Cricket, the pace of the ball leaving the bat was 158km/h, which is the quickest ever recorded by the company in matches it has broadcast. It was, truly, an awesome shot, as noted by Australian great Adam Gilchrist.
“The Bison goes bang. That’s a brilliant stroke. Just power,” he said.
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Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri was no less astonished by the brutish strength of the Aussie, whose formidable form in white ball cricket has seen his stocks rise as an Ashes smoky.
“What a shot that is. This is huge. This is humungous. That’s the power of the Bison. What a monster hit,” he said.
Marsh eventually fell for a rapid 46 when caught in the deep by Indian star Abishek Sharma while trying to smash Kuldeep Yadav into the Yarra River, but he had done more than his part to set the Aussies on course for a massive win.
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