Fit or Unfit, Chris Gayle Shows He's Still World Cricket's Biggest Draw

During summertime in Cape Town, a gale force wind regularly rips through the suburbs and the city centre. The South Easter, as it is known, has sometimes blown satellite dishes off walls and is colloquially referred to as the “Cape Doctor”. By Friday afternoon, it was just starting to gain some traction and by the time the West Indies stepped out to bat against South Africa, it was in full force.

But that was not the only gale force in action. In the middle of Newlands, Christopher Henry Gayle was playing the kind of innings that has earned him the reputation of being one of the best Twenty20 players in the world. In the most brutal fashion, Gayle hammered 77 off just 31 balls, and no bowler was spared.

His strike rate was not below 175.00 for any bowler he faced. Wayne Parnell copped the worst of the lot, with Gayle hitting 20 runs off the six deliveries form the left armer.

Remarkably, he managed just one run from his first six deliveries. Kyle Abbott made a steady start and South Africa's young speedster Kagiso Rabada, too, kept a lid on the big man, for a while. For just a few minutes, Gayle looked like he might actually respect the rookie.

Then Rabada bowled a bouncer which went for four byes and, just like that, Gayle tasted blood and the flood gates opened. He welcomed Rabada to his first ever T20 international on home soil with consecutive sixes.

The two know each other well—they played together in South Africa’s domestic T20 competition before. When Gayle was asked why he picked on the youngster his reply was simple: He picked on me first.

The chaos continued, with Gayle smacking eight sixes and five fours. In cricket, the saying “you miss, I hit” is often  used. For Gayle, the phrase should be: you bowl, I hit. Because no matter where anyone bowls to him, he will find a way to punish bowlers.

Aside from his brute force, Gayle’s ability to keep his head dead still is part of what makes him so dangerous. His complete lack of desire to run between the wickets is extraordinary. Just nine of his runs came from pottering between the wickets. Why run when you can smack it?  

At the post-match press conference, Gayle even admitted that he was not one hundred percent fit.

“My back was a bit stiff when I woke up this morning and I was a bit nervous going out there. But it held up well and I’ll see how I feel before the next match,” Gayle said.

If part of T20’s purpose is to entertain, then there is no better player to have out in the middle than Gayle. Even the home crowd couldn’t help but be blown away. Every big hit was greeted with an “ooh” from the bewitched crowd.

When Gayle was eventually dismissed, caught behind after an attempted reverse sweep, the celebrations from the watchers was almost subdued. He might not be batting for them, but that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy watching him bat.

West Indies needed just 51 off 54 with eight wickets still in hand. The result was only going to go one way and those who felt they had gotten their money’s worth after watching Gayle, got up from their seats and decided to leave early in an attempt to avoid the gridlocked traffic.

Those who stayed watched on as Marlon Samuels continued to build from the platform set by his colleague. But the Newlands mood was significantly dimmed. Their team was losing and the superstar had exited stage left.

It just proved once again that no matter where in the world he is batting and no matter who is playing for, when it’s the Chris Gayle Show, everyone sits up and takes notice.

All quotes and information obtained first hand.