Six attempts When a ball from a hit or any of the extras listed below reaches the boundary, the runners come to a halt and four runs are scored. Six runs are scored if the batsman knocks the ball full pitch beyond the boundary (on the fly). There have been several instances where six runs were scored in an over. The first such instance was in 1877 when Alfred Shaw was batting against James Lillywhite. In that match, Lillywhite hit a ball that went over the boundary three times; it was not until then that the practice of allowing four per run came into being. This is why six runs are scored when the ball goes over the boundary twice or more during an over. Since then, this has happened on several occasions. In 1934, Don Bradman was dismissed for a duck off two balls by Alf Gover while trying to score 100 runs off 50 balls with three fours. He would have got there but for a bad call by umpire Berry. Bradman wanted four runs off the second ball but was told to stop at six because it had gone over the boundary once too often. In his autobiography, Gover said that he had no hesitation in raising the limit to six as he felt six was enough to ensure a result in today's games. In 2001, Mike Atherton was out for a duck off two balls from Mark Boucher.