Cricket is getting more entertaining day by day, especially after the introduction of Twenty20 format. Fast scoring in the shortest version of the game has also affected ODI and Test matches.
In the ‘70s, ‘80s and even in the ‘90s there were few matches which produced results. Most Tests ended in a draw due to batsmen’s long stay at the crease who waited for bad balls. When the number of ODIs increased and the T20 leagues were introduced batsmen lost their patience and now they want to hit every ball out of the ground.
The first double hundred in ODI was scored after 39 years of this format when Little Master Sachin Tendulkar scored 200 against South Africa in 2010.
In the last five years, we’ve had five double centuries, four of them by Indians (twice by Rohit Sharma, once each by Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag) and one by West Indies’ Chris Gayle.
But the West Indies opener Chris Gayle became the first batsman to score a double century (215) in a World Cup innings when he reached the landmark against Zimbabwe in a Pool B clash in Canberra last week. He surpassed Gary Kirsten’s record of 188, which he made against UAE in 1996. This is also the third-highest score by any batsman in ODI history.
Interestingly, the West Indies’ first wicket fell on the second ball of the innings and the second wicket on the last ball of the innings. In between, Gayle (215) and Samuels (133) made 372 runs, a record for any wicket in ODIs, surpassing the 331-run record by India’s Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar against New Zealand at Hyderabad Deccan in 1999.
During his fantastic innings, Gayle also equaled the record of highest number of sixes, 16, in an ODI innings with Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers. His 138-ball double hundred is also the fastest, beating 140-ball record by Sehwag. Sachin got his double-century off 147 balls and Rohit off 151 and 156 balls.
It was Chris Gayle’s first century since June 2013. During this period he had only made one fifty.
During the innings against Zimbabwe he also completed 9000 ODI runs and became only the second West Indian batsman to do so. The first was Brian Lara.
Gayle’s double hundred was his 22nd century, highest for any West Indian. He joined Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli who have 22 hundreds each.