It was a grand opening at the Wanderers. Over 400 runs in just under 38 overs in a game that ebbed and flowed and ended in a thriller.
After Gayle helps Windies to breach the 200-mark in Twenty20 with a hurricane century, Gibbs and Kemp help South Africa knock off the record total in just 17.4 overs
JOHANNESBURG: It was a grand opening at the Wanderers. Over 400 runs in just under 38 overs in a game that ebbed and flowed and ended in a thriller. South Africans Herschelle Gibbs and Justin Kemp were the heroes in an eight-wicket victory. But it was West Indian Chris Gayle who set it all up by playing a big role in challenging the hosts to chase down a target of 206. Together the troika of batsmen gave the T20 World Cup a supersonic start.
Gayle can be moody. On Tuesday, being mellow wasn’t his choice. Sensing that there was an opportunity to be a part of history, Gayle didn’t let it pass. Rather, he embraced the moment in his own inimitable style. He was almost zombie-like, displaying his first real sense of emotion when he took the covers off the T20 World Cup in a befitting manner, with a hundred.
It was the first in a Twenty20 International and it couldn’t have come at a faster pace. A triple ton in Tests, incidentally against South Africa at St John’s, one-day hundreds and now going past Ricky Ponting’ 98 to record the highest score in a Twenty20 game, Gayle having the best of ‘three worlds’ so to say.
With his inherent hand-eye coordination and the confidence to pull of some audacious shots Gayle batting formula is ideally suited to the 20 over format. In many ways there couldn’t be a better brand ambassador for the Twenty20 game. Gayle can surely bat; can bowl useful overs with his brand of spin and isn’t a slouch on the field. He brings in the charisma and is a star in the West Indies team that is now minus Brian Lara. In short he can get the crowds on their feet — all in all a great package.
Gayle 117 came off just 57 balls. In between there was just the crack of the ball leaving the bat and then the sight of it disappearing as running between the wickets wasn’t an option Gayle wanted to take. The innings was a whirl of fours and sixes. Almost like a quick, well edited segment of the ‘Big Hits’ picked out of a one-day international game.
The Wanderers doesn’t by any standards have the longest boundary lines, but Gayle shrunk them. The sweet spot on his bat progressively increased and even thick edges flew at lightening speed. Ten sixes to seven boundaries for Gayle said it all.
By the 15th over, Herschelle Gibbs, tottering on one leg and adding a runner to the chaos in the middle, kept his team in the chase. The big-hitting Justin Kemp took over from Gibbs as he smashed the pedal to the floor at the right time as the South Africans showed the value of the experience gained thanks to the strong Pro20 League in their domestic cricket.
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