South Africa v West Indies T20, Johannesburg 2015: List of world records broken

West Indies chased down the 232-run target set by South Africa in the second T20 international of the ongoing 3-match series, at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, to win the match and the series, courtesy Chris Gayle’s 41-ball 90. As a result, an innings as good as home captain Faf du Plessis’s 119 off just 56 balls had to end up on the losing side. Given the number of runs scored, it wasn’t surprising that the match saw as many as 5 world records being broken and 1 being levelled. Here is a look at them:

#1 Highest ever run chase in a T20I

Captain Darren Sammy and Man of the Match Chris Gayle during the 2nd KFC T20 International match between South Africa and West Indies at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on January 11, 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Hunting down the target in 19.2 overs, West Indies broke the record for the highest successful run chase in a T20 international game, which was previously held by India. The Men in Blue, in 2009, had chased down 207 against Sri Lanka at Mohali.

Batting first, the Lankans, riding on a 31-ball 59 from Kumar Sangakkara, looked well on course to seal a series victory before Virender Sehwag (64 off 30) and Yuvraj Singh (25-ball 60*) gatecrashed the party.

Top 5 highest run chases in T20Is:

Losing Team	Winning Team	Target	Year
South Africa	West Indies	232	2015
Sri Lanka	India	207	2009
West Indies	South Africa	205	2007
Australia	India	202	2013
Zimbabwe	New Zealand	201	2012

#2 Most runs by a bowler in a T20I

West Indies batsman Dwayne Bravo (R) collides with South African bowler Kyle Abbott (R) during the second T20 cricket match between South Africa and the West Indies at Wanderers cricket stadium in Johannesburg on January 11, 2015.

South African pace bowler Kyle Abbott conceded 68 runs in his 4 overs: most number of runs given away by a bowler ever in a T20 international. The record was previously jointly held by England fast bowler James Anderson and Sri Lankan all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya, both of whom had conceded 64 runs in their 4 overs against Australia and Pakistan respectively in 2007.

In yesterday’s match, Gayle took a special liking for Abbott, scoring 22 runs off the 6 balls he faced.

Given below are the 5 most expensive spells in T20Is:

Player	Country	Opposition	Spell	Year
Kyle Abbott	South Africa	West Indies	4-0-68-1	2015
James Anderson	England	Australia	4-0-64-1	2007
Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	Pakistan	4-0-64-0	2007
Rubel Hossain	Bangladesh	West Indies	4-0-63-2	2012
Mashrafe Mortaza	Bangladesh	Pakistan	4-0-63-0	2014

#3 Most runs scored in a T20I

David Miller of South Africa plays to square leg during the 2nd KFC T20 International match between South Africa and West Indies at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on January 11, 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa.

A total of 467 runs were scored by both the teams at Johannesburg, which is 10 higher than what England and Australia had managed at Southampton in 2013: a match where Australian opener Aaron Finch scored 156 runs off just 63 balls to take his team to 248; in reply, England, despite Joe Root’s 49-ball 90, could only manage 209/6.

Apart from the contributions from Du Plessis and Gayle, the likes of David Miller (47 off 26) and Marlon Samuels (60 off 39) also cashed in on a good batting track.

Most number of runs scored by two teams in a T20I match:

Team 1	Team 2	Runs	Year
South Africa	West Indies	467	2015
England	Australia	457	2013
New Zealand	Australia	428	2010
England	India	418	2007
India	Sri Lanka	417	2009

#4 Most number of boundaries

Chris Gayle of the West Indies hits over the top for six during the 1st KFC T20 International match between South Africa and West Indies at Sahara Park Newlands on January 09, 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa.

A total of 68 boundaries were scored in the match: 44 fours and 24 sixes. The home team contributed only 18 fours and 10 sixes to it, while Gayle and Co. accounted for the rest. This effort displaced England-Australia at Southampton in 2013 from the top spot, where 66 boundaries – 43 fours and 23 sixes – were scored.

Given below is the list of top 5:

Team 1	Team 2	Boundaries (Runs)	Year
South Africa	West Indies	68 (320)	2015
England	Australia	66 (310)	2013
New Zeland	Australia	61 (286)	2010
Afghanistan	Ireland	58 (270)	2013
India	Australia	58 (262)	2013
India	Sri Lanka	57 (248)	2009

Note: In terms of runs scored via boundaries, the T20 World Cup 2014 Irelands-Netherlands match (280 runs at Sylhet in Bangladesh) will come in at No. 4, with Afghanistan-Ireland dropping down to No. 5.

#5 Highest individual score in a lost T20I match

South African batsman Francois Du Plessis raises his bat as he celebrates scoring a century (100 RUNS) during the second T20 cricket match between South Africa and the West Indies at Wanderers cricket stadium in Johannesburg on January 11, 2015.

Du Plessis’s 119 at Johannesburg is the most number of runs scored by a player in a losing cause in a T20I match. The next best is Gayle’s 117 against South Africa at the same venue in 2007 in a World Cup T20 match. Fair to say, the West Indian big hitter has settled his scores for the heartbreak 7 years back.

Here is the list of top 5 knocks in a losing cause:

Player (score)	Team	Opposition	Year
Faf du Plessis (119)	South Africa	West Indies	2015
Chris Gayle (117)	West Indies	South Africa	2007
David Warner (90*)	Australia	Sri Lanka	2013
Joe Root (90*)	England	Australia	2013
Michael Swart (89)	Netherlands	Kenya	2013
Aaron Finch (89)	Australia	India	2013
Mahela Jayawardene (89)	Sri Lanka	England	2014

#6 Levelled: Most sixes in a T20I career

Brendon McCullum and Chris Gayle (R)

Gayle, when he hit his 7th and last six of the match, equalled the world record for the most number of sixes hit by a batsman in T20 internationals: 87. The 35-year-old is now at the top spot with New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum. However, he needed only 43 innings as against McCullum’s 69.

Given below is the list of batsmen with the most number of sixes in their T20I career

Player	Team	Innings	Sixes
Chris Gayle	West Indies	43	87
Brendon McCullum	New Zealand	69	87
Shane Watson	Australia	46	69
David Warner	Australia	52	66
Yuvraj Singh	India	37	63