Gayle made the fastest half-century by a West Indian player in Twenty20 International history
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
West Indies opener Chris Gayle blasted a spectacular half-century to power his side to a four-wicket win over South Africa in Cape Town.
However, South Africa batsman Rilee Rossouw deserves some credit for his valiant knock of 51.
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis would have been brooding over his decision to bat first after opening batsman Reeza Hendricks was given out lbw off the bowling of Sheldon Cottrell for 12 runs.
Morne van Wyk scored 17 runs before he was caught by Gayle at slip off the bowling of Jason Holder.
Du Plessis made a quickfire 38 before he was caught by West Indies skipper Darren Sammy at mid-on off the bowling of Andre Russell.
David Miller mustered 24 runs before he was caught by Dwayne Bravo off the bowling of Cottrell.
Thanks to Rossouw’s unbeaten knock of 51, which came off 40 balls and included five boundaries, South Africa finished on 165/4 off their 20 overs.
Rossouw hit five boundaries during his gutsy knock of 51
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Cottrell was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Russell and Holder chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Chasing 166 to win, the West Indies got off to a superb start as Gayle and Dwayne Smith amassed a 78-run partnership, during which Gayle registered his half-century, before Smith was given out lbw off the bowling of Imran Tahir for 20.
However, Smith should not have been given out since the ball hit his gloves before going on to crash into his pads.
Gayle ended up making 77 off 31 balls, which included five boundaries and eight sixes, before he was caught behind off the bowling of Tahir.
Bravo only made eight runs before he was caught by Hendricks at midwicket off the bowling of Wayne Parnell.
Marlon Samuels managed to make 41 runs before he was caught by Rossouw at cover point off the bowling of Tahir.
Russell accumulated six runs before he was caught by Kyle Abbott at long leg off the bowling of Parnell.
Denesh Ramdin made two runs before he was caught by Abbott at long leg off the bowling of David Wiese.
Despite the late flurry of wickets, the West Indies ended up reaching their target with four balls to spare.
Tahir was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Parnell snapped up two and Wiese claimed one.
Tahir finished with figures of 3-28 off four overs
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Du Plessis was gutted to have lost the match, and said: “It’s a captain’s nightmare. Tough for the bowlers but a real learning curve for them. He’s [Gayle] done that to every attack in the world. If you don’t get him out he’s going to hurt you. We had a small opportunity with a catch just out of Rilee’s reach and you have to take those. I thought we posted a really good total, average at Newlands is about 150. We brought it back well at the end but we were just on the end of Chris Gayle today.”
Sammy was ecstatic to have taken a 1-0 lead in the series, and said: “We were determined to make up for the Test series. This is a format we’re very confident with. The beauty of our team is the power hitters. It was hard to pick the XI. But we’re going to play free and fearless, sometimes it may look sloppy but that’s the way we’re going to play. Chris gives himself a chance, sees what the wicket does and then it’s helter-skelter. But also, Jason Holder bowled well up front but we didn’t start or finish out overs well enough – the first and last balls we conceded too many boundaries.”
Gayle was named Man of the Match.