Chris Gayle's 30-ball century is fastest ever in IPL
The Jamaican played just 30 deliveries to reach the three-figure mark and remained unbeaten on 175 against Pune. He then returned to claim two wickets and secured a 130-run win.
A day after the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League saw its first century, Bangalore's Chris Gayle slammed the fastest ton ever seen in the tournament and left Pune Warriors in absolute shambles. The Jamaican played just 30 deliveries to reach the three-figure mark and eventually remained unbeaten on 175 with 17 sixes. The previous fastest in T20 was a 34-ball hundred by Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds for Kent in 2004. (Read: Match report)
Gayle has an aggressive demeanour to his batting but Tuesday saw him in an absolutely ferocious playing mood. Both pacers and spinners were shown to the fence with raw power as Gayle hooked, pulled, drove and cut his way. There was hardly a delivery that he mis-read and even the decent deliveries found themselves amidst celebrating local fans. (Stats)
The other end was manned by Tillakaratne Dilshan but the Sri Lankan was left in awe with Gayle doing bulk of the scoring with his astounding hits.
Such was the utter destruction here that Mitchell Marsh was taken for 28 runs in his only over while every other bowler - barring Bhuvneshwar who gave 8 off his three - had an economy rate well above 10 an over.
Pune skipper Aaron Finch - the third for the team in this tournament - could hardly do much with his fielders and bowlers as Gayle completed his fourth and arguably best century in the Indian Premier League.
Fastest hundreds in Twenty20
| Player |
Balls | Match | Venue | Year |
| Chris Gayle |
30 | Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Pune Warriors | Bangalore | 2013 |
| A Symonds | 34 | Kent vs Middlesex | Maidstone | 2004 |
| LP van der Westhuizen | 35 | Namibia vs Kenya | Windhoek | 2011/12 |
| YK Pathan | 37 | Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians | Mumbai | 2009/10 |
| SB Styris | 37 | Sussex vs Gloucestershire | Hove | 2012 |