Flashback: First century in T20 World Cup
The maiden edition of the T20 World Cup took place in 2007 and was a tournament to remember with a lot of twists and turns. During the first very game of the T20 World Cup, the Gayle storm arrived and it looked like the Caribbean lad was made and brought up for the T20 format.
The hosts South Africa elected to field after winning the toss at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg and Gayle walked out to the crease alongside Devon Smith. The duo did not have any sighters and straightaway took on the Proteas bowling that had the likes of Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini.
Gayle was the aggressor among the two batters and he managed to go over the fence at anything that was in his arc. The left-hander did not stop his assault even after reaching his half-century in quick time and kept attacking the bowlers from South Africa. The stunning partnership of 145 came to an end in the 14th over when Smith was dismissed.
Gayle cleared the ropes at ease with ten towering sixes in his knock and hit one of the most magnificent centuries in the history of the tournament. He perished after adding 117 runs off just 57 balls at a strike rate of 205 and the bowlers had no answers to his brutal display. West Indies reached 205 for 6 in their 20 overs on the back of Gayle’s superlative knock.
However, the total was not enough for the hosts who chased down the score in just 17.4 overs. Herschelle Gibbs put on a show with a 55-ball 90 while Justin Kemp took the side over the line. Despite West Indies ending up on the losing side, Gayle was adjudged the player of the match for the fantastic knock.
