Renegades recruit provided fireworks in Taunton but it was not enough to get his team over the line
Gayle smashes 151 not out in Somerset loss
Melbourne Renegades recruit Chris Gayle has given his KFC T20 Big Bash League rivals a taste of the fireworks he might produce next season, smashing 151 not out off 62 balls for Somerset on Sunday.
The West Indies power-hitter struck 10 fours and 15 sixes during the England domestic Twenty20 match against Kent, but it was still not enough to guide his team to victory as Somerset fell three runs short of their target.
It was Gayle’s second man-of-the-match performance for Somerset in three days, after he scored 92 off 59 balls against Essex on Friday.
Gayle made the most of the life he was given on 46 when he was dropped by Kent’s Joe Denly, who summed up the situation perfectly on social media afterwards when he tweeted, 'Note to self: DO NOT DROP CHRIS GAYLE ON 40!!!!!!'
Note to self: DO NOT DROP CHRIS GAYLE ON 40!!!!!! 😳
— Joe Denly (@joed1986) May 31, 2015
Chasing Kent’s 227, which came courtesy of Sam Northeast’s 114 from 58 balls, Gayle’s teammates could only muster 73 runs between them, with Gayle’s nearest teammate James Hildreth scoring 29 off 24.
The 35-year-old has now scored 545 sixes in Twenty20 cricket and has 15 T20 centuries, nine more than his nearest rival, Brendon McCullum.
He also holds the record for the world's highest T20 score – an astonishing 175 not out from just 66 deliveries made for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League in April 2013.
Gayle will join fellow West Indies player Dwayne Bravo at the Renegades in BBL|05, with the Jamaican set to form a devastating opening partnership with Australia T20 captain Aaron Finch.
BOOM: @henrygayle hits151 off 62 (10x4s,15x6s) on home debut for @SomersetCCC in @NatWestT20Blast. #form pic.twitter.com/S61JrXURl6
— Melbourne Renegades (@RenegadesBBL) June 1, 2015
It will be Gayle's second stint in the Big Bash League after he played the opening two seasons of BBL with the Sydney Thunder, while he also played with the state-based version of the domestic T20 competition in Western Australia.
Last month, Gayle blazed 12 sixes in an innings of 117 from 57 balls for Bangalore against Kings Punjab XI in the IPL, which included 20 runs from one Mitchell Johnson over.
Gayle averaged 40.91 for RCB in IPL8, with a strike rate of 147.44.
Earlier this year, he scored the first-ever double century at a World Cup, racing to 215 from just 157 balls against Zimbabwe at Manuka Oval in Canberra.