Chris Gayle has created T20 history in the Bangladesh Premier League final, blasting 18 sixes on his way to an unbeaten 146 off 69 balls for Rangpur Riders against Dhaka Dynamites.
Gayle, who was dropped by Shakib Al Hasan on 22, broke his own world record – set in 2013 when he smashed 17 sixes in an unbeaten 175 for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in the Indian Premier League.
It took the West Indian 57 balls to post three figures, with his final 46 runs coming off just 12 deliveries.
At the other end, former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum tuned up for the KFC Big Bash League with 51no from 43 balls, with three sixes.
The pair put on a BPL record 201 for the second wicket, as Rangpur posted 1-206.
Local bowler Khaled Ahmed copped the most punishment, with his two overs going for 39, while West Indian Kieron Pollard was also put to the sword, taken for 33 from his two wicketless overs.
Incredibly, amid the Gayle-McCullum blitz, West Indian off-spinner Sunil Narine maintained an economy rate of 4.5, with just 18 runs scored from his four-over spell.
In reply to the onslaught, Dhaka were never in the hunt and were at one stage reduced to 2-1 before being dismissed for 149.
The 38-year-old Jamaican’s knock also took him past 11,000 runs in the shortest format of the game and made him the first player to score 20 centuries in T20 cricket.
To put that figure in context, Big Bash trio Brendon McCullum, Luke Wright and Michael Klinger are next on the ‘most hundreds’ list, with seven apiece.
Gayle’s knock came four days after he cracked 126 off 51 balls in an elimination final against the Khulna Titans, where he singlehandedly steered Rangpur through to the decider as he scored more than 73 per cent of his team’s runs as they chased 6-167 with 28 balls to spare.
Having scored just two fifties in the tournament prior to the elimination final, Gayle finished as the leading BPL run-scorer, fashioning his 485 runs at an average of 53.88 and a momentous strike rate of 176.36.
Second on the run-scoring list was fellow-West Indies ODI opener Evin Lewis, who tallied 396 runs with a strike rate of 159.03 for the Dhaka Dynamites.
Gayle, who has now struck 819 sixes in T20 cricket, is set to join his Caribbean teammates in New Zealand this week ahead of their one-day international series.
