Gayle leaves records scattered in his wake

Chris Gayle, on the way to 215 in the West Indies' victory over Zimbabwe on Tuesday, set or erased the following records:

• On 100, he registered the 22nd ODI hundred of his career and second in a World Cup match and first ever on Australian soil.
• On 120, he bettered his highest score in World Cup matches. His previous highest was 119 versus Kenya at Kimberly on 4-3-2003.
• On 154, he went past his highest score in ODIs. the previous highest being 153* also versus Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on 22-11-2003.
• On 176, he went past the highest ever ODI score made against Zimbabwe. The previous highest was 175* by Kapil Dev at Tunbridge Wells on 15-6-1983.
• On 190, he registered the highest score by a West Indian in ODI matches, beating the 189* by Vivian Richards versus England at the Old Trafford on 31-5-1984.
• On 200, he became the fifth player overall to score a double century in ODIs.
• By a strange coincidence, it was on this very day of February in 2010 (24-2-2010) that Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to break the 200 barrier in ODIs. An even more strange coincidence was that while Tendulkar took 147 balls to reach his 200, Gayle did so in exactly the same number on the same day!
• Gayle is also the fastest to make a double century in ODIs. He took just 138 balls to reach 200, with Virender Sehwag being the second fastest, having taken 140 balls.
• Gayle becomes the first player in history to have a T20 International hundred, a Test 300 and an ODI 200 to his name.
• When Gayle hit the second 6 of his innings, he brought up the 400th international 6 of his career. Gayle has hit 98 sixes in Tests, 215 in ODIs and 87 in T20 Internationals. Only Shahid Afridi with 447 has more. Gayle now has 414 sixes!

The following are the highlights of the West Indies total.

• The West Indies score of 372 is now their highest score ever in ODIs. Their previous highest was 363-4 vs New Zealand at Hamilton (8-1-2014).
• It is also their highest score in a World Cup match, bettering 360-4 vs Sri Lanka at Karachi way back in the 1987 World Cup.
• It is the highest score made by any side in Australia, bettering the Australia’s 368/5 vs Sri Lanka at the Syney Cricket Ground in February 2006
• It is the highest score made by West Indies in Australia, the previous best being 339-4 versus Pakistan at Adelaide on 28-1-2005
• It is now the fifth highest score made in all World Cup matches. The highest remains 413-5 by India versus Bermuda at Port-of-Spain in 2007.

The partnership records set by Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels.

• The 372-run partnership is now the best for any wicket in ODIs. Gayle and Samuels beat the long-standing record of Tendulkar and Dravid who put on 331 for the second wicket vs New Zealand at Hyderabad (8-11-1999).
• They also beat the West Indian partnership record for any wicket, which had previously stood in the name of Bravo and Ramdin who put on 258 for the third wicket at Basseterre (25-8-14).
• The duo also erased the World Cup record for the highest partnership for any wicket, which was held by Ganguly and Dravid who had put on 318 for the second wicket at Taunton in 1999.
• It is also now the highest partnership by any side for any wicket versus Zimbabwe. The previous best was 282 for the first wicket by Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan at Pallekele (10-3-11).