Power hitting the like of which even the Twenty20 Cup has never seen before took Graham Napier, the unsung 28-year old Essex all-rounder, to a breathtaking 152 not out from a mere 58 balls against Sussex at Chelmsford last night.

Napier hit a staggering 16 sixes, believed to be a world innings record for all professional cricket, and every one of them was a pure strike. He took three successive sixes off Dwayne Smith in the thirteenth over, three more in succession off Chris Liddle in the eighteenth over, and - to cap it all - four in five balls, with a four in between, off the suffering James Kirtley in the final over.

Kirtley's analysis, 4-0-67-0, is the most expensive in Twenty20 Cup cricket while Napier's tour de force eclipses Cameron White's 141 not out, for Somerset at Worcester in 2006, as the competition's highest innings.

Napier's 16 maximums - he hit ten fours besides - equals the world record first-class innings mark set by Andrew Symonds, for Gloucestershire against Glamorgan at Abergavenny in a Championship match in 1995. Symonds, famously, cost the Hyderabad franchise US$1.47 million at the launch of the Indian Premier League in April; what a bargain Napier might be!

Talking of the IPL, Brendon McCullum's magnificent unbeaten 158 for Kolkata on the event's opening night on April 8 remains the highest score made in Twenty20 matches. McCullum, however, who hit 13 sixes, opened the innings and faced 73 balls; Napier did not come in here until the third over. His previous highest Twenty20 score, moreover, was 38.

“It was awesome, fantastic,” Napier said, before going out to open the Essex bowling as well. “I just started to see the ball better, middle one or two and then got into a rhythm.” His first 50 took 29 balls, his second 15 and his third just 13. To put Napier's hitting into perspective, the most sixes struck in last year's entire Twenty20 Cup was also 16, by Luke Wright. The previous Twenty20 record for sixes in an innings was nine, by Mark Ealham.

Just to complete the statistical records, the previous best individual score for Essex in the competition was Ronnie Irani's 100 not out, at Hove in 2006, and their 242 for three shattered their previous highest total, which was also against poor old Sussex, of 196 for six at Chelmsford in the same summer.

Afterwards, Napier said he could remember playing a similar innings only once before, for Colchester Under-13 against Wivenhoe Under-13 in a 20-over match. He added: “I was about 12 or 13 and I hit 150 with around as many sixes as that before I was retired out on 150 in about the fourteenth over. I then played for Essex Schools in another game later that day and got a duck.

“Tonight was just one of those times when everything clicks and you feel that whatever you do will come off. One of my sixes was a bit of a mis-hit, to be honest, but it was my day and I’m absolutely delighted."

Essex

*M L Pettini c Liddle b Martin-Jenkins 4
J E R Gallian c Liddle b Yardy 26
G R Napier not out 152
J S Foster b Hamilton-Brown 48
R N ten Doeschate not out 4

Extras (lb 3, w 3, nb 2) 8

Total (3 wkts, 20 overs) 242

, G W Flower, N J Dexter, J D Middlebrook, D D Masters, Danish Kaneria and M A Chambers did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-90, 3-209.

Bowling: Martin-Jenkins 4-1-17-1; Kirtley 4-0-67-0; Liddle 4-0-49-0; D R Smith 2-0-33-0; Yardy 4-0-52-1; Hamilton-Brown 2-0-21-1.

Sussex

C D Nash c Pettini b Masters 8
M W Goodwin b Chambers 23
D R Smith lbw b Chambers 21
M J Prior c Pettini b Chambers 8
*C J Adams c Dexter b Middlebrook 5
M H Yardy b Middlebrook 15
R J Hamilton-Brown c Pettini b ten Doeschate 7
R S C Martin-Jenkins c Napier b Middlebrook 10
A J Hodd b Danish Kaneria 2
C J Liddle lbw b Danish Kaneria 0
R J Kirtley not out 1

Extras (b 4, lb 3, w 5, nb 2) 14

Total (16.4 overs) 114

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-56, 3-66, 4-66, 5-92, 6-94, 7-109, 8-112, 9-113.

Bowling: Masters 3-0-20-1; Napier 2-0-20-0; Chambers 3-0-31-3; Danish Kaneria 2.4-0-8-2; ten Doeschate 3-0-15-1; Middlebrook 3-0-13-3.

Umpires: B Dudleston and N J Llong.