Published: Jun 29, 2015, 04:42 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 29, 2015, 06:52 PM (IST)
Chris Gayle became the first batsman to score more than 1,000 Twenty20 runs in 2015 during his knock of 90 off 36 deliveries during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) fixture between Jamaica Tawallahs and St. Lucia Zouks on Sunday. Gayle achieved the feat for the fifth consecutive year in the format.
| Player | M | I | R | BB | Ave |
| Chris Gayle | 21 | 21 | 1,085 | 151* | 67.81 |
| Michael Klinger | 14 | 14 | 674 | 126* | 67.4 |
| Lendl Simmons | 16 | 16 | 604 | 71 | 40.26 |
| Kieron Pollard | 24 | 21 | 595 | 82 | 37.18 |
| David Warner | 14 | 14 | 562 | 91 | 43.23 |
Gayle now has 1,085 runs from 21 innings at an impressive average of 67.81. His latest blitzkrieg had him single-handedly getting Tallawahs chasing 119 in half the allotted 20 overs. The leaders of the opposition attack and West Indies internationals Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel were carted for seven sixes, out of a total of nine hit in the night, including eight by Gayle. Chadwik Walton, the other opener of the Tallawahs, scored a run-a-ball 25 as the winning total was reached with all ten wickets intact. This was after a combined bowling effort by the Tallawahs restricted the Zouks, captained by Darren Sammy, to 118 for nine. READ: Chris Gayle looking to ‘put on a show for the fans’ in CPL 2015
This innings followed a rainfall of runs from Gayle’s bat in the Twenty20 competition he was involved with before this, the Natwest T20 Blast. Against Essex, Kent and Hampshire in three consecutive games, Gayle notched up scores of 92, 151 not out and 85 not out for Somerset. His 74-ball 151 not out against Kent, remarkably, still ended with Somerset’s loss, by three runs. READ: Brendon McCullum surpasses Chris Gayle as batsman with most T20I sixes
In the IPL earlier this year, he scored a century an two fifties for Royal Challengers Bangalore to end up as the fifth highest run-getter in the competition, with 491 runs off 14 games. But his 38 sixes were the maximum hit by any player in the event. His 117 against Kings XI Punjab got his team a 138-run win.
