Several records fell by the wayside as Pune Warriors were the hapless victims of a Chris Gayle mega-special. Here are the stats highlights of an exceptional innings
Shiva Jayaraman and S Rajesh23-Apr-2013 Gayle’s 175 not out is the highest individual score in all Twenty20 matches, while Royal Challengers’ total of 263 is the highest by any team. This is only the third occasion a batsman has scored 150 or more in an innings – the previous ones were by Brendon McCullum (158 not out in IPL’s opening game in 2008) and Graham Napier’s 152 not out for Essex against Sussex in June 2008. (Click here for the full list of highest individual scores in Twenty20 cricket.) Gayle’s century took all of 30 balls, which is four balls quicker than the previous record – Andrew Symonds’ 34-ball effort for Kent against Middlesex in 2004. The previous-quickest in the IPL had been Yusuf Pathan’s 37-ball effort for Rajasthan Royals against Mumbai indians in 2010. (Click here for the fastest Twenty20 hundreds.) His half-century came off 17 balls, which equals the fastest in the IPL – Adam Gilchrist had scored one off 17 balls against Delhi Daredevils in 2009. Over the course of his innings, Gayle struck 17 sixes, the most in an innings in Twenty20 matches; the previous record was 16, by Graham Napier when he scored that unbeaten 152. That also makes him the only player to score 100 runs in sixes alone in a Twenty20 innings. The previous-highest in the IPL was McCullum’s 13 during his unbeaten 158. He also struck 13 fours, which means 154 runs were scored in fours and sixes, the most in a Twenty20 innings. The previous-best was Napier’s 136 (16 sixes and 10 fours). Gayle’s also the only batsman to twice score a century of runs in fours and sixes in Twenty20 matches. Gayle’s 11 centuries in this format is more than twice that of the next-highest: David Warner and McCullum have five each. In the IPL alone he has four hundreds, twice as many as the next-best. His entire innings was played at a frenetic pace, but even within that his best phase was the 27 balls he faced between the start of the second over and the fifth ball of the ninth, when he hit his 11th six to reach his hundred. Of the 49 balls bowled during that period (including no-balls), Gayle scored 101 off 27 – a strike rate of 22.44 runs per over – including eight fours and 11 sixes. During the same period, Tillakaratne Dilshan, his opening partner, scored 15 from 22. After his century, though, Gayle’s strike rate dropped (though only compared to his own earlier levels). His last 73 runs came off 36 balls, a rate of 12.16 runs per over. The maximum number of balls between a four or a six for Gayle was nine, between overs 8.6 and 11.2 (immediately after he reached his century), during which period he scored five singles and four dot balls. The most successive dot balls he played was two. Among the seven bowlers who bowled to Gayle, Luke Wright was the most economical, going for only 13 off 16 balls, and bowling six dots. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was next, with 11 off seven balls. The worst was Aaron Finch, who conceded 28 off five, while Ali Murtaza went for 43 off ten.
BowlerBallsRunsStrike rate4s/ 6sDotsLuke Wright1316123.071/ 16Bhuvneshwar Kumar711157.142/ 02Ashok Dinda1018180.000/ 22Ishwar Pandey922244.445/ 02Mitchell Marsh1237308.331/ 54Ali Murtaza1043430.003/ 52Aaron Finch528560.001/ 40 Overall, the difference between the runs scored and balls played in Chris Gayle’s innings was 109, which is the first instance of the difference being more than 100 in a Twenty20 innings. The previous-highest difference between the runs scored and balls played was 95, by Namibia’s Louis van der Westhuizen against Kenya. Gayle scored 142 more than the second-highest in the innings, Dilshan’s 33. This is the highest difference in runs between the top scorer and the next-best in an innings. Dilshan was completely overshadowed, but his partnership of 167 with Gayle is the highest for the first wicket in the IPL, going past Dwayne Smith and Sachin Tendulkar’s 163 against Royals in 2012, and the joint fourth-highest for all wickets in the IPL. Despite all the hitting, one record which this innings didn’t break is the one for the highest strike-rate for a 100-plus score. Gayle’s strike-rate at the end of the innings was 265.15, which is fourth-best for a 100-plus score. The best is 290 (145 off 50 balls) by van der Westhuizen against Kenya. The next-best innings are both 100s off 37 balls, by Yusuf Pathan and Scott Styris (strike rate 270.27). The margin of victory, 130 runs, is the joint seventh-highest in all Twenty20 matches, and the second-best in IPL history.
