The 'Universe Boss' Lit Up The World Cup With The First Ever T20I Century

Chris Gayle after scoring the first ever T20I century [X]Chris Gayle after scoring the first ever T20I century [X]

The cricketing fraternity saw a new phenomenon rise in 2007. It was the T20 festival that gripped the followers of the game with it is inaugural World Cup. 

A grand opening was required for the event to be a success, and it was exactly what the Bradman of T20s, Chris Gayle, provided. West Indies batted first in the tournament's first match, and Chris Gayle unleashed his fury on the South African bowlers. 

Chris Gayle slaughtered the South African bowlers to score his first T20I century

The southpaw was at his destructive best when he scored 117 runs off just 57 deliveries. This was the first ever century to be scored in T20Is.  He had a 145-run opening partnership with Devon Smith, in which the latter scored only 35 runs off 34 deliveries. Gayle's innings was decorated with seven fours and ten sixes. Courtesy of his power-packed knock, West Indies posted 205/6 in their 20 overs. 

Herschelle Gibbs undid Gayle's brilliance

The knock by Gayle is one of the best in the T20 World Cup history. Unfortunately, however, it ended on the wrong side as Herschelle Gibbs came up with an equally resilient reply. The South African opener scored 90* off 55 deliveries and took the team home to a historic eight-wicket win. He was aided by a fiery cameo from Justin Kemp, who scored 46 runs off 22 deliveries. 

Centuries in T20 World Cups

The game of cricket, and especially the T20 format, has evolved rapidly since that day. The game has picked up pace over the years, and the followers have seen many more memorable knocks by modern-day batters. Notably, 11 centuries have so far been scored in T20 World Cups; here is a look at them-

Batter
Score
Opposition
Venue
Year
Chris Gayle (WI)117South AfricaJohannesburg2007
Suresh Raina (IND)101South AfricaGros Islet2010
Mahela Jayawaredene (SRI)100ZimbabweProvidence Stadium
2010
Brendon McCullum (NZ)123BangladeshPallekele2012
Alex Hales (ENG)116*BangladeshChattogram2014
Amhed Shehzad (PAK)111*BangladeshMirpur2014
Tamim Iqbal (BAN)103*OmanDharamsala2016
Chris Gayle (WI)100*England
Wankhede2016
Jos Buttler (ENG)101*Sri LankaSharjah2021
Rilee Rossouw (SA)109BangladeshSydney2022
Glenn Phillips (NZ)104Sri LankaSydney2022

It is worthy of mention that Chris Gayle's second T20 century also came in a World Cup game. He scored it against England during the T20 World Cup 2016 at the iconic Wankhede Cricket Stadium in Mumbai.