6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 4 ... Ben Stokes almost makes history with the perfect over

Newly appointed England Test captain Ben Stokes narrowly missed out on joining Sir Gary Sobers and Ravi Shastri in the class of batters with six sixes in an over in a first-class game. 

Playing for Durham against Worcestershire, Stokes hit left-arm spinner Josh Baker for five sixes and a four in the game's 117th over and Baker's 20th.

The sixes were in the midwicket to long-off arch as the England captain pressed on, with his fifth six raising his 20th first-class ton that came off just 63 balls.

What would have been the money-making hit was a flatter delivery from around the wicket that Stokes could only bunt down the ground for four, much to his annoyance.

Had Stokes nailed the last ball for a maximum, he would have joined fellow all-rounders Sobers and Shastri in the esteemed class.

Sobers achieved the feat in 1968 when in Nottinghamshire's colours, he clattered Glamorgan's Malcolm Nash for six consecutive half-dozens.

The next time it was done was in January 1985 when Shastri, playing for Mumbai, nailed his half-dozens off Baroda's left-arm spinner Tilak Raj.

The feat, yet to be done in Test cricket, has been achieved once in ODI cricket by Herschelle Gibbs off Netherlands leg-spinner Daan van Bunge in 2007.

Managed to middle a few ?? https://t.co/6Zxw9X2063

In T20I cricket, Yuvraj Singh hit a storied six sixes off Stuart Broad in a T20 World Cup clash at Kingsmead in 2007.

The six sixes in an over club in international cricket:1. Herschelle Gibbs(?? via @ICC) pic.twitter.com/8ZTTbmzoYN

More recently, former West Indian international subjected Sri Lankan spinner Akila Dananjaya to the same indignity.

6??6??6??6??6??6??#WIvSL pic.twitter.com/P3lTpOLxbZ