The Lynnsanity

A belligerent striker of the cricket ball, Chris Lynn envisaged the rise of T20 cricket building his technique around hitting gigantic sixes. Currently the most accomplished hitter in the Big Bash League and captain of Brisbane Heat, he is the leading run-scorer in the tournament’s history which has made him a T20 specialist who is in great demand around the world. On the swashbuckling batsman’s 30th birthday, we look at some of his famous performances, renowned as ‘Lynnsanity’, available on YouTube: 

Taking the Sixers by the sword

Chris Lynn lit up the Sydney Cricket Ground smashing an astonishing 94 off 35 balls against the home side, Sydney Sixers. Batting at three, Lynn walked out to bat in the first over. He expressed himself from the beginning dancing down the track against the pacer, Sean Abbott, hitting him over his head for a six to get off the mark on the second ball of his innings. Lynn left the false starts in the previous two games - scores of 9 and 6 - behind him to punish the Sixers’ bowlers. By the end of the first six overs, Heat were 73 for one out of which Lynn had contributed 61 from 23 balls. 

Overall, his knock included 11 sixes and four fours. Heat posted a massive 209 in their innings and defended it comfortably to register their first win of the 2019/20 season. 

Almost a T-10 hundred

The threat Lynn possesses with the bat in his hand is inversely proportional to the length of the game. The 10-over format allows him the license to hit from the first ball irrespective of the situation and when it comes off, it is trouble for the opposition. Team Abu Dhabi had one such bad day in 2019 when the Australian batsman teed off to hammer an unbeaten 91 from 30 balls. 

Playing for Maratha Arabians, he narrowly missed out on the opportunity to become the first batsman to notch-up a hundred in the T10 format as he got to face only four balls in the last three overs. His team posted 138 on the board and won by a comfortable margin of 24 runs. 

MCG isn’t big enough

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is the biggest active cricket stadium in the world but it is not big enough when Lynn is in the mood to hit sixes. In what was the last over of the powerplay against Melbourne Stars at the Big G in 2016, the Brisbane batsman took Ben Hilfenhaus apart for five sixes in a row. It was Hilfenhaus’ first over and Lynn had a look at him for just one ball, the first ball. The rest sailed over the outfield, the first one flying above square leg for a 123-metre six. The right-handed batsman covered the arc between square leg and right over the bowler’s head providing a massive boost of 30 runs in the sixth over, to Heat’s run-rate. By the end of the over, Lynn also completed his fifty which came off only 19 balls.