Chris Gayle and his fastest 50 blew away South Africa in the 1st T20 international on Friday, and West Indies will look for more of the same from their ridiculously heavyweight slugger when the two teams clash again in the 2nd T20 international in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Gayle (77, 31b, 5x4, 8x6) was at his absolute best, cracking a 50 in just 17 balls, to lead West Indies to a chase of 166 as South Africa, albeit shorn of their premier bowlers, were left with no answers to the Gayleforce assault.
When the left-handed opener is in the mood, there is very little to do but sit back and watch, and one of the bowlers who found out what international cricket is all about in the most scathing manner possible was 19-year-old express paceman Kagiso Rabada.
"Chris is very versatile in the areas he scores," said South Africa T20 skipper Faf Du Plessis. "He hasn't just got one shot. He hits different boundaries off different balls and it's difficult to stop him
"He offers you very little. The world's most dangerous T20 player for a reason. He usually picks on one guy on the night and that's it. In the IPL, he usually goes after a medium-paced bowler or a spinner so I was surprised he took on a quick."
Rabada looked to ignite his international career by scalping one of the best batsmen in the limited-overs game, and much to his detriment he found out that is not the best of ideas as he was taken to the cleaners by Gayle.
"He picked on me first," said Gayle. "He tried to knock my head off. He is inexperienced but has got a lot of pace so I wanted to put him on the back foot.
"This is a learning process for him. He is very young but he is a strong individual and he will be a quality fast bowler for South Africa in the future."
West Indies, after that Gayle blitz, nearly threw away an easy victory by losing four wickets for 17 runs, but they eventually got to the target with four balls to spare, showing just how much more comfortable they are in the shorter formats of cricket after struggling to stay above water in the Test matches.
"We were just giving the fans something to cheer about," said Gayle with a smile. "I wasn't worried at all. I knew we would get there in the end.
"Sometimes when we win a game like this then we are more lackadaisical and lose the next one. It will be nice to have a clean sheet by going up two-nil."
Where to Watch Live
The 2nd T20 international is scheduled for a 3 pm local time (1 pm GMT, 6.30 pm IST) start with live coverage in India on Ten Cricket and Ten HD. The match can also be watched via live streaming online in India on Ten Sports Live.
Catch all the Twenty20 action in South Africa on SuperSport, while viewers can live stream the game on SuperSport Online. Viewers in the Caribbean can catch the game live on SportsMax.
Sky Sports 2 will show the match live in the UK, while viewers can also watch the action via live streaming on Sky Go or Watch Sky Sports. Audience in the United States can catch the game live on Willow TV or Willow TV Online.
