Chris Gayle creates history, becomes first cricketer to hit 100 T20 sixes

Chris Gayle has remained the top showman in Twenty20 cricket for years now. The Jamaican power-hitter added another slice of record on Saturday when he became the first batsman to complete a century of sixes in Twenty20 Internationals. The powerful batsman prefers to deal in boundaries and sixes, be it for West Indies or any franchise he plays for. Still, reaching a century of maximum is a special record. Chris Gayle, 37, reached the milestone in his 52nd match, off 49 innings. He struck left-arm seamer David Willey for six while scoring 40 in the first Twenty20 International against England at Chester-le-Street, Durham. He hit too more, to finish with an aggregate of 103, as the Caribbean side defeated England by 21 runs in the one-off T20 tie. The left-handed batsman took 11 years and 213 days to reach the landmark. Chris Gayle owns almost all records in T20 cricket -- most centuries (18) half-centuries (65), sixes (772) and fours (804), from 309 matches. He also holds the record for scoring the fastest century in Twenty20 cricket, off just 30 deliveries. That record came for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, against the defunct Pune Warriors in Bangalore in 2013. That ton included 11 sixes and eight fours. Gayle’s 175 not out and 17 sixes in that innings too are T20 records. Gayle though is only the 12th highest run-getter in T20 Internationals. Two big-hitters are behind Gayle, although both have retired. New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum has hit 91 sixes while Australia’s Shane Watson’s tally is 83. Yuvraj Singh holds India’s record for most number of sixes in T20Is. Yuvraj’s 74 career hits places him fifth in the overall list.