Wednesday 24 April 2013

Records fall to Chris Gayle

BANGALORE: No force in the world could stop Chris Gayle from exploding on a hapless Pune Warriors India. The Jamaican entertainer was ruthless, unstoppable and blemishless as he cut a deep, unforgettable swathe through the Aaron Finch-led side with a whirlwind 66-ball unbeaten 175.Scorecard | Match in Pics | Gayle's fastest tonThe records that fell by the wayside overshadowed the whopping 130-run victory that Royal Challengers Bangalore scored at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here on Tuesday.Thanks to the opener's power-hitting, RCB rolled to a record-breaking total too - 263 for 5, beating CSK's 2010 total of 246/5 against Rajasthan Royals. No bowler - from Ashok Dinda to Mitchell Marsh - was spared as Gayle first figured in a 84-ball, 167-run first-wicket partnership with Tillakaratne Dilshan before winging ahead with a fruitful association with AB De Villiers.That Dilshan contributed a mere 33 runs in that defining partnership tells a story in itself. Chasing an insurmountable total, Pune finished at 133/9 with Steve Smith (41) and Marsh (25) chipping in with their bits.A rain interruption during the second over of the day that halted the game for 22 minutes proved to be an early dampener but once the RCB openers stepped out, the Gayle mantra was on everybody's lips at the Chinnaswamy.Every delivery that Gayle singled out for special treatment either beat the fielder near the fence or disappeared into the stands. He smashed Ranji Trophy's highest wicket-taker Ishwar Pandey for three straight boundaries.Then came Australian pacer Marsh only to have his pride severely dented when Gayle sent him for two back-to-back sixes to long-on and extra cover before following it up with a boundary over point. He then lifted two straight sixes over the sightscreen to reap 28 runs in the over.After surviving a leg-before appeal by Ali Murtaza, Gayle was a lot more aggressive. He swatted Finch for 29 runs as RCB scampered to 100 runs in just 7.5 overs.Soon he sent Dinda soaring over long-off to set an all-time record of fastest 100 in T20, needing just 30 balls to achieve it. Yusuf Pathan's 37-ball effort was history. Prior to that, Gayle had raced to 50 in 17 balls, equaling Adam Gilchrist's mark.Eventually, when he carried the bat for an utterly entertaining 175, Gayle had the record of the highest individual score in the history of T20 also in his clasp.The knock contained 17 towering sixes - one of them forcing the umpires to pick a new ball - and 13 boundaries, putting to shade the previous best of 158 by KKR's Brendon McCullum in Bangalore in 2008. McCullum needed 73 balls to reach 150 while Gayle just took 53 balls.De Villiers too joined the fun with a cameo of 31 (3x6, 3x4) from just eight balls to light up the end overs.Gayle was in the thick of action in the PWI's innings too, bagging two wickets in the space of three balls in the last over and thrilling the near-capacity crowd with his Gangnam-style jig for each wicket he claimed.He even poked fun at his former KKR team-mate Ashok Dinda, making a throat slashing gesture as the batsman walked up to the striker's end to open his account. RCB pace duo of Ravi Rampaul and Jaydev Unadkat chipped in with two wicket each.

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