Gayle comes to his own as he scores unbeaten 92 to lead Barisal Bulls to victory

Chris Gayle scored a blistering knock to lead the Bulls to victory in the BPL

West Indies batsman, Chris Gayle powered his way to an unbeaten 92 off just 47 balls to take his side, Barisal Bulls, to a resounding eight-wicket victory against the Chittagong Vikings, in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

Gayle had a poor showing in the first two games that he played for the Bulls. After having missed the first six games of the season due to injury, Gayle came back in the game against Sylhet Superstars. He was only able to get scores of eight in each of the matches against the Superstars and the Comilla Victorians.

After having been set a target of 136 in 20 overs, the Bulls reached the target in just 15 overs with a run rate of just under 10. Gayle scored 65% of his team's total as he hit Jeevan Mendis for four sixes in the 15th over to take his team across the finishing line in style.

The 36-year-old Jamaican showed why he is one of the most dangerous batsmen in the shortest format, despite probably reaching the twilight of his career. His innings of 92 included six fours and nine sixes, scoring 85% of his runs just via boundaries.

Gayle has played around the world in almost all of the Twenty20 leagues, finding success everywhere he has played. His T20 record speaks for itself.

In 225 T20 matches he has played, Gayle has scored 8333 at a very impressive average of 44.32 and an astonishing strike rate of just under 150. In a format where an average of over 30 is considered good, Gayle has scored 16 centuries and 53 fifties.

The above numbers clearly prove how Gayle is one of the best, if not the best T20 player around at the moment. What adds to his achievement is his ability to play on any of the pitches around the world and still smack the ball deep into the stands.

With this victory, the Bulls are in the third position in the table with 12 points, just two points off Rangpur Riders, who are on top of the table. As things stand, the Bulls will go through to the playoffs and they will be delighted with the way that Gayle is coming to his own at the business end of the tournament.

Brief Scores:

Chittagong Vikings 135/7, 20 overs (Haque 28, Dilshan 28; Cooper 2/24, Sami 2/31)

Barisal Bulls 141/2, 15 overs (Gayle 92*; Ahmed 1/23)

Chris Gayle (92* for Barisal Bulls) today missed his 17th 100 He has most 100s by any batsman in T20s Next best is 7 by Brendon McCullum!

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) December 9, 2015

In T20s Chris Gayle 596 sixes in 5576 balls - a six every 9.36 balls Next: Kieron Pollard 388 sixes in 3845 balls - a six every 9.91 balls

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) December 9, 2015

Most 6s in T20s in a year: 125* Gayle 2015 121 Gayle 2012 116 Gayle 2011 100 Gayle 2013 80 Pollard 2010 78 Pollard 2012 70 Maxwell 2014

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) December 9, 2015

Most scores of 90+ in T20s in a year: 8 Gayle 2015 6 Gayle 2011 5 Jayawardene 2010 4 Gayle 2013 #BPL2015

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) December 9, 2015

Most 6s in T20s since 2011: 522 Gayle 275 Pollard 209 D Smith 178 ten Doeschate 174 McCullum 171 Levi 160 Miller 158 Russell 157 Wright

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) December 9, 2015