Herschelle Gibbs turns 49: Our TWO favourite memories of the Proteas legend

Proteas great Herschelle Gibbs turned 49 not out on Thursday, 23 February 2023.

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Here are our two favourite memories of the star batsman and fielder – and one isn’t even cricket-related!

And no, neither refer to THAT dropped catch at the 1999 Cricket World Cup nor his knock in the famous ‘434’ ODI.

Gibbs played 90 Tests, 248 ODIs and 23 T20I for South Africa, scoring 6 167, 8 094 and 400 runs, respectively.

He also took 210 catches in all three formats and effected countless run outs.

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On March 16, 2007, Gibbs became the first player to hit six sixes in an over when the Proteas played the Netherlands in the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies.

Gibbs managed the feat in the 30th over of the match plundering Daan van Bunge to all parts of the St Kitts ground.

Gibbs scored 72 runs off just 40 balls and helped South Africa post 353/3 in just 40 overs in what was a rain-curtailed match.

In their innings, the Netherlands could only total 132/9 from their 40 overs and lost the match by 221 runs.

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6️⃣ 6️⃣ 6️⃣ 6️⃣ 6️⃣ 6️⃣ #OnThisDay in 2007, Herschelle Gibbs slammed six sixes in an over against Netherlands in the @cricketworldcup 🙌

He scored 72 runs off just 40 balls, as South Africa reached a massive total of 353/3 in just 40 overs 🤯 pic.twitter.com/6kMWT1J1ny

— ICC (@ICC) March 16, 2020

The second memory refers back to Herschelle Gibbs’ schoolboy days at Bishops in Cape Town where he was a rugby (and soccer) prodigy besides his obvious cricket talents.

Watch below as Gibbs stars for Western Province in their win over Free State in the 1992 Craven Week final.

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