Darius Visser obliterated the single over record by three runs against Vanuatu at a T20 World Cup qualifier in the Samoan capital, Apia.

Bat and ball on cricket ground.
Darius Visser is the first Samoan to hit an international century in a T20 International match [Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images]

Darius Visser has hit 39 runs in a single over to set a men’s Twenty20 International record and help Samoa to a 10-run victory over Vanuatu in a 2026 World Cup regional qualifier.

Visser, who scored 132 off 62 balls in Tuesday’s match, was on 46 when Vanuatu’s Nalin Nipiko stepped up to bowl the 15th over, in which the Samoa batter cleared the ropes on six occasions and faced three no-balls.

Nipiko bowled a dot ball for the fifth delivery of the over but followed it up with two no-balls, with 28-year-old Visser hitting the second of them for a six.

Visser finished with 14 sixes and five fours.

The previous record for the most runs in a T20 international over was 36, first set by India’s Yuvraj Singh in 2007.

The record in one-day international (ODI) matches is 36, scored by South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs and USA batsman Jaskaran Malhotra.

Visser, who also took the wicket of Vanuatu batter Ronald Tari, powered Samoa to a total of 174, which they were able to defend to claim their second victory in the East Asia-Pacific qualifying tournament.

Most runs in one over by an individual batsman – men’s T20 Internationals

39: Darius Visser (Samoa) vs VAN, 2024

36: Yuvraj Singh (India) vs ENG, 2007

36: Kieron Pollard (WI) vs SL, 2021

36: Dipendra Singh Airee (NEP) vs QAT, 2024

36: Nicholas Pooran (WI) vs AFG, 2024