World Record T20 Match

West Indies tour of South Africa, 2nd T20I: South Africa v West Indies at Johannesburg, Jan 11, 2015
West Indies in South Africa T20I Series – 2nd T20I
South Africa v West Indies
West Indies won by 4 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)

Match details
Toss – West Indies, who chose to field
Series – West Indies led the 3-match series 2-0
Player of the match – CH Gayle (West Indies)
Umpires – S George and AT Holdstock
TV umpire – JD Cloete
Match referee – RS Madugalle (Sri Lanka)
Reserve umpire – DJ Smith
Match Notes

Got to feel for Faf! He scores a big hundred, a rare feat in the 20-over format, yet ends up on the losing side. Anyway, that ends a terrific game of cricket. These two sides will lock horns again on Wednesday for the final T20I at Durban. Looking forward to your company then. Goodbye!
Wow! Some really strong words from Gayle there in the presentation.

Gayle: “No, I didn’t have a net, I didn’t train to be honest and then I go and get some sleep. I am so glad that we actually won the series, I wanted to win this so bad. This morning I saw the World Cup squad, no Pollard and no Bravo, I felt really really hurt deep inside and that’s the reason why I actually wanted to win the series. We have the best team here and to see those two guys excluded, it’s really sad for West Indies cricket. If you really believe in our ability, those two guys should have been in the squad in South Africa for the 50-over tournament and the World Cup squad. I am so glad, I am really happy to actually win this and kind of show them up a bit, so I am really glad. But back to the cricket, a good performance from the team, a lot of runs scored again. Faf batted really well, chasing 230, we needed two big scores over 50. Myself and Marlon got the big scores. Overall, I am happy and I am happy to have won the game for Bravo and Pollard as well.”

Chris Gayle is the Man of the Match
Sammy: “To be fair, at the halfway stage, we were pretty confident. In T20s, it will take a team effort. I feel for Faf, brilliant innings but he ends up on the losing side. Cricket is the real winner and the crowd was brilliant. South Africa is a good team, especially after the Test series. Last game we did not have a clinical finish but in this game we showed why we won the T20 World Cup. This is the beauty of T20, we back the guys in the dressing room. It’s good to have Chris in the side. We have a good batting line-up. Once we do the right things, it’s hard to stop us. It was a good game of cricket. Except Tahir, all their bowlers were under the pump.”

Faf: “It’s my first T20I hundred, feels like you need a bit of luck. But it’s very very bitter-sweet to go down like that. Nothing is out of their reach. Chris Gayle, you try to get him out but he scores all around the ground. I think we did not land the yorkers well, quite a few full tosses, but it’s tough to bowl yorkers with the new ball. I thought I was going to pause at one stage, I ran a lot of twos. I tried to lead from the front but we couldn’t get over the line tonight. Apologies to the crowd for not being on the winning side, it was like the 438 game.”

Gayle threatened to break Levi’s record for the fastest ever T20I hundred (off 45 balls), but was dismissed for 90 off just 41 balls. He smashed the bowlers to all corners and the boundaries weren’t big enough for him.

Chasing 232, the intent was pretty clear from Smith and Gayle. Though the former perished early, Gayle bludgeoned the bowling and shared a record 152-run stand for the second wicket with Samuels. It looked like West Indies would win with three overs to spare, but Wiese brought the hosts back by removing both in quick succession. The visitors lost their way slightly as South Africa picked up 5 wickets in a space of 38 runs. However, Sammy stayed calm when it mattered and took West Indies past the line to achieve a record win. Phew! Insane stuff from the Caribbean boys!