Top 5 New Zealand cricketers with most ODI sixes

One of the oldest teams to play cricket, New Zealand are yet to win an ICC World Cup and their best chance came in the year 2015, when they hosted the tournament along with fierce neighbours Australia.

New Zealand boast of tremendous levels of consistency and have regularly made it to the knockout stages of most ICC events. The Kiwis, throughout their ODI journey, have unearthed some of the superstars like Stephan Fleming, Martin Crowe, Brendon McCullum and Nathan Astle.

Now, let us have a look at their top 5 ODI cricketers with the most number of sixes in the format:

---

#5 Nathan Astle - 86

Astle was a gutsy batsman and a clever bowler who could anchor the innings expertly.

Astle is one of the complete players New Zealand have ever produced. Predominantly an opener, nothing could deter Astle's confidence to play freely in any situation.

In the 223 matches, he featured in, Astle was a strong presence at the top of the order. His calculative approach combined with his clever medium pace bowling along with his expertise in the slip cordon gave the Kiwis a solid advantage of possessing him in their playing XI.

Astle scored a total of 7030 runs in the ODI with a moderate average of 34.92 and when it came to striking it big, Astle could strike them crisp and colossal. In his ODI career, Astle has 86 sixes to his name.

#4 Ross Taylor - 121

Taylor has the excellent gift of scoring against any sort of bowling attack.

Taylor started off with hockey before switching to cricket and it is extremely evident in the slog sweep Taylor exhibits. Taylor who cemented his place as a No.3 batsman in the Kiwi batting order is capable of expertly handling both spin and speed.

Taylor's gifted technique with the bat along with his ability to anchor the team's innings makes him one of the most remarkable players in New Zealand cricket history. He has an average in excess of 44 in both Tests and ODI but has 6641 runs in ODI cricket alone.

Talk about his six-hitting ability, Taylor is fluent every time he attempts his trademark slog sweep and is also capable of depositing good deliveries into the stands courtesy his strong wrists. He has a total of 121 sixes to his name in the ODI.

#3 Martin Guptill - 147

In the 2015 World Cup quarter-final, Guptill scored an unbeaten 237 comprising of 11 sixes.

A distinctive top-order batsman, Guptill is one the most fearless openers in modern day cricket. Guptill plays shots in the air and manages to place it perfectly on a consistent basis in the limited overs.

In addition to this Guptill is blessed with the dexterity to influence the rate of scoring in an ODI at will and his strike rate of 87.24 along with an average of 43.43 underline the same.

Guptill is also the first New Zealander to score a century on his ODI debut and also claims the record to score the first ODI double hundred for New Zealand against the same opposition - West Indies. In his brief career, Guptill has smashed 147 sixes on the whole with many on the way in the forthcoming years.

#2 Chris Cairns - 153

Cairns was a resounding presence in the middle-order

In the history of New Zealand cricket, it is safe to say that Cairns is probably the best all-rounder the country has seen. Cairns has 201 wickets in the ODI format of the game along with 4950 runs with the willow.

Cairns was an outstanding presence in the middle order and could bat even with the lower order. His explosive batting in the middle order earned him the tag as one of the most destructive hitters of the cricket ball.

His ODI career spread across 15 years and during this he thwacked a total of 153 sixes at a strike close to 85 in the One-Day format of the game.

#1 Brendon McCullum - 200

McCullum fearlessly played the improvised shots even against the fastest bowlers of the world.

There are no awards for guessing who is on top of this list. It has to be the dashing Brendon McCullum. Initially started as a lower order wicketkeeper-batsman but gradually established himself as of the most aggressive openers in the modern cricket.

McCullum has played a massive 260 games for New Zealand and his tempestuous strike rate of 96.37 sets him apart from the rest of the openers in the world. McCullum's skillset included all the shots and also some of the most innovative ramp shots the game has ever seen.

He is the fourth highest run-getter for the Kiwis' in the ODI and is at the apex position of the six-hitting chart with a massive 200 sixes in his long and celebrated ODI career.