Kieron Pollard struck six sixes in one over off Akila Dananjaya, who had earlier taken a hat-trick, in West Indies’ extraordinary four-wicket Twenty20 defeat of Sri Lanka.

West Indies captain Pollard became only the third man to strike six maximums in an international.

In his previous over, Dananjaya had removed Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran.

West Indies chased their target of 132 in 13.1 overs in Antigua.

The tourists had been restricted to 131-9 before the drama really began.

In the fourth over, with the Windies already having 52 on the board, off-spinner Dananjaya had Lewis caught at long-off, Gayle – in his first international for two years – lbw and Pooran caught behind.

In Dananjaya’s next over, Pollard climbed into the bowling, clearing the ropes in the arc between long-off and deep mid-wicket.

Pollard repeated the feat achieved by South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs against the Netherlands at the 2007 50-over World Cup, and India’s Yuvraj Singh against India at the Twenty20 World Cup in the same year.

Pollard’s fellow West Indian, the great Sir Garfield Sobers, was the first man to hit six sixes in a professional game, doing so for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan in Swansea in 1968.

“I felt I could hit six sixes after the third one,” said 33-year-old Pollard, who will play for Welsh Fire in this summer’s inaugural hundred competition.

“Once I had five sixes I knew I had the bowler on the back foot. He was going round the wicket and it was difficult for him. I just told myself: ‘Go for it’.”