Canberra: West Indies opener Chris Gayle became the first batsman to score a World Cup double century on Tuesday and admitted he had never felt such pressure to perform.
The giant 35-year-old Jamaican smashed a breathtaking 215 against Zimbabwe at Canberra’s Manuka Oval for his first double century in 226 one-day internationals.
His double ton came off just 138 balls including nine fours and 16 sixes as he surpassed the previous World Cup best of 188 not out by South Africa’s Gary Kirsten against the United Arab Emirates at Rawalpindi in 1996.
Gayle was eventually out off the last delivery of the innings, having faced 147 balls, with 10 fours and 16 sixes taking his team to an imposing 372 for two in the company of Marlon Samuels, whose 133 not out was reduced to a support act.
Left-hander Gayle’s record blast meant he has now completed a career sweep of a triple century in Tests, double century in ODIs and a century in Twenty20 internationals.
“I got a bit of cramp and I was feeling a bit tired,” said Gayle, fortunate to be given not out after an lbw appeal to the first ball he faced went to a review.
“I didn’t want to be out with the first ball — I said ‘you can’t be serious?’,” he said.
“I was under pressure to score runs, and I kept getting messages from Twitter and on my cell phone from fans. I have never known so many people wanting Chris Gayle to do so well.”
Gayle’s record-shattering innings came just days after he was inadvertently caught up in an embarrassing Twitter gaffe by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Dave Cameron, who retweeted a post from a spectator calling for the batsman to be pensioned off.
“I have never felt this kind of pressure, but in the end, I am sure I gave them something to talk about,” said Gayle.
“It was a bit slow at the start, not to mention the ball keeping low. I just tried to take the bull by the horns and hang in there and try and build an innings.
“A lot of time people don’t know what you are going through as I had some issues with injuries. I am also not getting any younger so age is definitely catching up on me. Overall I am really happy, and I just want to try and build on this as much as possible.”
Gayle’s tally of sixes equalled the record for the most in an ODI innings held jointly by South Africa’s AB de Villiers and India’s Rohit Sharma.
His innings was also only the fifth double century in all one-day international cricket and the first by a non-Indian, with Sharma (two), Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag the only other batsmen to achieve the feat.
Gayle and Samuels also set a new partnership record for any ODI wicket.
Their unbroken stand of 372 surpassed the 331 shared by India’s Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar against New Zealand at Hyderabad (Deccan) in 1999. “I am very happy to get this first double hundred and ever since Rohit got two, I have been hounded to get one as well,” smiled Gayle.
His innings sparked a stream of plaudits on Twitter.
“Finally he’s got a double hundred in one day cricket! That doesn’t surprise me who else than @henrygayle what a stage to get it tho,” tweeted India’s Yuvraj Singh.
His boss at Indian Premier League outfit Royal Challengers, Vijay Mallya said the innings was a perfect response to those who wanted him dropped. “@henrygayle silences his critics and gives a fitting answer to all the recent comments on Twitter. Our big maan creates even more records,” wrote Mallya, who also owns the Force India F1 team.
