Chris Gayle’s 31-ball 77 powers West Indies to 4-wicket win over South Africa in 1st T20I at Cape Town

Jan 9, 2015

Chris Gayle powered West Indies to a comfortable 4-wicket win over South Africa in the first Twenty20 International at Cape Town. West Indies took the game away from South africa in the powerplay overs as Gayle and Dwayne Smith added a whopping 78 runs. South Africa’s total of 165 was made to look inadequate by the sheer brilliance of Gayle. Imran Tahir was the only South African bowler to have an impact. He finished with impressive figures off three for 28 amidst absolute carnage.

Add Cricket Country as a Preferred Source

Gayle was at his quintessential best as he hammered the inexperienced South African attack to all corners of the park. No matter what the South Africans tried the ball invariably sailed into the crowd off the bat of Chris Gayle. Gayle raced to his half century almost immediately after the West Indies had. Gayle reached the landmark in 17 balls making a mockery of South Africa’s total of 165

The Protean bowling trembled under the assault of a rampaging Gayle. West Indies scored 78 runs in the powerplay. Dwayne Smith played second fiddle to gayle was dismissed off the first ball from Imran Tahir. Smith was dismissed for a useful run a ball 20. By the time South Africa got the breakthrough the game had all but slipped out of their fingers like quick sand. Gayle found the Boundary line and in fact the stands with consummate ease . Gayle was finally dismissed for 77 in a mere 31 balls but he had completely deflated the South African spirits. Marlon Samuels took West Indies to within touching distance of the South African score with a well constructed 32-ball 41 before Kieron Pollard  completed the formalities with 4 balls to spare.

Earlier South Africa scratched and prodded but eventually reached a competitve 165 from their allocated 20 overs. South Africans rode on a 19 for ball 38 cameo from Faf du Plessis who injected some momentum into their innings after two early wickets and Rilee Rossouw’s second T20I fifty to set a challenging total. Farhaan Behardien also made a useful contribution of 18 off 12 balls. Jason Holder was the pick of the West Indian bowlers with figures of one for 20 in his four overs. Holder opened the bowling and bowled through for the West Indies keeping the South African run rate in check during the crucial powerplay overs.

Brief scores:

South Africa 165 for 4 in 20 overs ( Rilee Rossouw 51*, Faf du Plessis 38; Sheldon Cottrell 2 for 33, Jason Holder 1 for 20) lost to West Indies 168 for 6 in 19.2 overs (Chris Gayle 77, Marlon Samuels 41 ; Imran Tahir 3 for 28, Wayne Parnell 2 for 39 ) by 4 wickets.

Full Scorecard

Man of the Match: Chris Gayle

Photo gallery