Chris Gayle 45-ball ton goes in vain as Somerset lose to Kent by 3 runs in Natwest T20 Blast 2015

Gayle 45-ball ton goes in vain as Somerset lose to Kent by 3 runs in Natwest T20 Blast 2015

Chris Gayle brought up his century in 45 balls for Somerset against during their Natwest T20 Blast fixture at the County Ground in Taunton on Sunday. Gayle struck six fours and 10 sixes at the time of reaching the milestone, as Somerset needed 83 more runs to win from 36 balls.

Gayle helped rescue Somerset from an early collapse, when they were reeling at 22 for two, with a 113-run stand for the third wicket with James Hildreth. Kent earlier finished on a score of 227 for the loss of seven wickets, with Sam Northeast top-scoring with a knock of 114 off 58 deliveries. He was supported by Daniel Bell-Drummond, who smashed 51 runs off 31 balls.

His knock however, was not enough to guide his team to victory, as Somerset fell three runs short of the Kent total. Gayle remained unbeaten on 150 off 62 balls, smashing a total of 10 fours and 15 sixes during his marathon innings. From 165 for three, wickets began to tumble for Somerset at an alarming pace. Needing 17 to win off the last over, Sohail Tanvir was dismissed off the first ball. Gayle smashed a four and six as Somerset could collect only 13 runs in the over.

Gayle carried his successful form over from the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), in which he collected 491 runs from 14 games at a strike-rate of 147.44, including a century and two fifties. Gayle earlier starred in Somerset’s three-wicket win against Essex with a knock of 92.