GAYLESTORM
2007: West Indies v South Africa, Johannesburg
At the time of writing this, there have been 96 hundreds in T20I. The first was scored, perhaps not surprisingly, by Chris Gayle. The ‘Universe Boss’ hit a scintillating 117 off 57 balls (7x4, 10x6) in the opening match of the inaugural T20 World Cup. If cricket’s newest international tournament needed an explosive start, Gayle provided that. He put on 145 in less than 14 overs for the first wicket with Devon Smith, whose contribution was a meagre 35. But Gayle’s blitzkrieg wasn’t enough to stop the host South Africa, which chased down the target of 206 for the loss of two wickets, with 2.2 overs remaining.