ICC World Cup 2015, West Indies vs Zimbabwe: List of world records broken by Chris Gayle

The West Indies-Zimbabwe Pool B encounter at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on Tuesday will be remembered for years to come for the exploits of one man: Christopher Henry Gayle. The Jamaican left-hander smashed a 147-ball 215, including 16 sixes and 10 fours, and shared a partnership of 372 runs with Marlon Samuels, who got a hundred for himself as the men from the Caribbean posted a total of 372 for 2 in their 50 overs.After a small rain delay, the Zimbabweans were asked to chase 363 in 48 overs, and despite a spirited effort, they fell short by 73 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method as they were bowled out for 289.During the marathon effort, Gayle broke several records which should stand the test of time. Here’s a look at the records broken by him (and Marlon Samuels) during the course of the innings:

#1 Highest individual score in World Cup history

Chris Gayle's score of 215 is the highest score ever made by an individual in World Cup history, beating the 188* that Gary Kirsten scored against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Rawalpindi during the 1996 edition of the tournament. As a result, he also became the first cricketer ever to score a double ton in a World Cup game.

Remarkably, 136 out of 215 runs in Gayle’s knock came courtesy of fours and sixes, whereas only 76 runs out of Kirsten’s 188* came in boundaries.

#2 Joint-highest number of sixes in an ODI innings

The 35-year-old smashed 16 sixes during his record-breaking effort and now jointly holds the record for the most sixes in an ODI innings with Rohit Sharma, who hit the same number during his 209 against Australia in Bangalore in 2013, and AB de Villiers, who did so during his whirlwind hundred against West Indies last month.

This is also now the new World Cup record for the most sixes hit by anyone in a World Cup game, eclipsing the 9 hit by David Miller against the same opposition in Hamilton, earlier in this tournament.

#3 A unique 300, 200 and 100 for Gayle

Gayle has also become the first cricketer to have scored a triple hundred in Test Cricket, a double hundred in ODI cricket and a century in T20 internationals. He scored his maiden triple hundred in Test Cricket against South Africa at Antigua in 2005, scoring 317 off 483 balls.

His T20 international century came at Wanderers, Johannesburg, on the opening day of the 2007 World T20, smashing a 57-ball 117 that included 7 fours and 10 sixes.

#4 Fastest double hundred in ODI cricket

The man from Jamaica brought up his double hundred off just 138 balls, which is now a world record for the fastest double ton scored in the ODI game. The previous record was held by Virender Sehwag, who got to the mark in 140 balls during his knock of 219 against the West Indies at Indore in 2011.

Like Gayle, the Nawab of Najafgarh has scored a triple hundred in Tests and a double hundred in ODIs, but hasn‘t yet reached the three-figure mark in international T20 games. He has, however, scored centuries in domestic T20s while playing for the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

#5 Highest ODI partnership ever

West Indies lost the wicket of Dwayne Smith in the very first over of their innings. In the absence of Darren Bravo, who was ruled out of the game due to injury, Marlon Samuels walked out to bat at number 3 and the Jamaican duo started to build the innings steadily.

After starting off cautiously, the two batsmen started to go after the Zimbabwean bowlers. While Samuels looked to rotate the strike along with finding the fence on the odd occasion, Gayle absolutely got stuck into the bowlers, specifically the spinners whom he hit to all corners of the Manuka Oval.

The duo put on 372 runs for the 2nd wicket before the left-hander was finally dismissed off the final ball of the innings, caught by captain Elton Chigumbura from the bowling of Hamilton Masakadza.

The partnership overtook the previous highest ODI stand of 331 runs, that was shared between Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in November 1999. Obviously then, they also surpassed the record for the highest partnership in a World Cup game, overtaking the 318 runs that Sourav Ganguly and Dravid put up against Sri Lanka at Taunton during the 1999 edition of the tournament.

The men from the Caribbean eventually finished on 372 for 2 in their 50 overs, which is the highest total made by them in their ODI history. The total was also the highest made in any Australian ground in an ODI.