WATCH | Chris Gayle hits 14 sixes to bring up his 19th T20 ton in just 45 balls
With cricketing nations busy wrapping up their season with impending tours and series, the lack of T20 leagues had almost made us forget the brute force that is Chris Gayle. However, the Caribbean hard-hitter came to the spotlight yet again, smashing a ton in 45 balls in Bangladesh Premier League.
With international cricket hardly on the cards anymore, Gayle is mostly found spending his career travelling countries and doing what he does best - smash bowlers to the stands. The latest such instance came in the Bangladesh Premier League on Friday where Rangpur Riders were playing the eliminator against Khulna Titans at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.
Riders’ skipper, Mashrafe Mortaza, seemed to have made the wrong decision by opting to bowl first as Titans posted a competitive target of 167 for the knockout game. And things looked further shaky for the Riders as they lost early wickets of Sohag Gazi and Brendon McCullum in the third over itself, which reduced them to 25/2.
However, Gayle turned on the heat soon forging a brilliant 146-run partnership with Mohammad Mithun to take his side into the final. In what was his fourth ton in the Bangladesh Premier League, Gayle smashed 14 huge sixes and six boundaries to bring up his ton in 45 balls and ending the innings unbeaten at 126.
With his career’s 19 T20 ton, Gayle also becomes the first to hit 800 sixes in T20 cricket and quite unbelievably, has scored a century in T20s in every calendar year since 2011.
“Still feeling fresh. Happy with the win; was an important game for us. This is the time you step up and take the momentum to the final. It’s about momentum when you’re batting as well. That’s a very good wicket – the best in Dhaka. The pressure was there but a good partnership with Mithun. You always want someone in the top three to bat deep,” said Gayle said after the match.
Riders’ skipper Mashrafe Mortaza was all praise for the giant southpaw after the game, who still had Johnson Charles and Ravi Bopara waiting with pads on.
“Gayle is the king of this format. Once he’s started, it’s difficult to stop him. Fantastic innings,” said Mortaza.
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