Chris Gayle hit the most breathtaking knock in the history of Twenty20 cricket blasting an incredible 175 off 66 balls as Royal Challengers Bangalore posted a record 263 for five in the Pepsi Indian Premier League match against Pune Warriors here today.
Gayle hit the fastest century, off just 30 balls, and the highest-ever individual score in a T20 game surpassing Kolkata Knight Riders' Brendon McCullum who hit 158 off 73 balls against RCB at this very Chinnaswamy Stadium. Incidentally, RCB's total was also the highest-ever total in any T20 game.
Put into bat, it was 'Gayle Force' that blew away the Pune Warriors as the big-bodied Jamaican showed his power-hitting ability as he struck 13 fours and 17 sixes en route the fastest ever T20 century off only 30 balls.
154 out of his 175 runs came in boundaries and off only 30 scoring strokes.
Typically, he brought up his century with a six off Ashoke Dinda that sailed over the stadium and in the process also damaged the roof.
The carnage started from the second over bowled by rookie paceman Ishwar Pandey. Playing his first IPL match, Pandey found out what top-level cricket was all about as Gayle hit him for five boundaries taking 21 runs of that over.
Mitchell Marsh and Aaron Finch got even worst treatments as they went for 28 and 29 runs in their respective overs as both were clobbered for four sixes each.
There was mimumum fuss as usual in Gayle's batting as he barely had any footwork. It was just stand and deliver as the ball kept on sailing into the stands and there was little that skipper Finch could have done.
Intimidated by this mayhem, the Pune bowlers could only go through the motion. All the three changes made by PUne backfired as Pandey gave away 33 in two overs while left-arm spinner Ali Mutaza conceded 45 from his two overs.
