Records broken by Chris Gayle against England in their World T20 opener

Chris Gayle slammed a T20I century off just 47 balls in West Indies’ 2016 World T20 opener against England at the Wankhede on Wednesday. During the knock, Gayle hit the third-fastest T20I century and a slew of other records that was previously held by Brendon McCullum.Needing 183 to win, Gayle opened the batting along with Johnson Charles, who got out for a duck but that did little to hamper the onslaught that was to follow. After a slow start, the West Indian opener got going and England were left powerless to stop him running away with the game.Gayle’s 100* included 5 fours and 11 sixes and ended as the third-most sixes in a T20I innings by any batsman.Here are some of the records that Gayle broke:

#5 Most T20I centuries

The records keep on coming for the West Indian opener

It was Chris Gayle, who opened the T20I floodgates when he scored a century in the first World T20 match against South Africa. He did it again on Wednesday, when he smashed another T20I century, thereby equalling Brendon McCullum's record of most centuries in the format.

He got to his century off 47 balls, only just missing out on the record for the fastest T20I century by two balls. Still he can be content with the fact that he now holds the record for most centuries in World T20.

This was his 17th century overall in T20s and including the one against England, he scored eight of those tons in 50 balls or less. In between his two international hundreds, which were spread over 9 years, he hit 15 centuries across various domestic T20 tournaments around the world.

His record of 17 T20 centuries itself is staggering when you consider that the next best is Brendon McCullum, who has just 7 centuries, 10 fewer than Gayle.

#4 Most sixes in T20Is

Gayle beat McCullum’s record

When Brendon McCullum called time on his career, one of the many records that he retired was that of most sixes in T20Is. McCullum finished with 91 but before the start of the World T20, Chris Gayle, the man in second place had 87 sixes. With Gayle, it was only a question of time as to when he was going to break that record.

As it turned out, all it took was one innings for him to break the record. Or to put it better, smash that record to smithereens. When he was finally done, Gayle finished with 98 sixes, two shy of becoming the first player to hit 100 sixes in T20Is.

#3 Most sixes in an innings in a World T20 match

Gayle beat his own record

It takes someone of immense quality to be in possession of a record of most sixes in an era where people are hitting sixes of fun. But Christopher Henry Gayle did just that as he beat the record for the most sixes in an innings in World T20. The previous record was set in the 2007 World T20 when he smashed South Africa around the park for 10 sixes at Johannesburg.

Today, on the way to his century, he hit 11 sixes and set a new record. This was also the 12th time that he has hit 10 or more sixes in a T20 innings. The sheer magnitude of that record can only be understood when you realise that no other player has done that more than twice.

#2 Most fifties in T20Is

Gayle got to his fifty off 27 balls

Scoring a fifty in a T20 is a task that is more difficult than it is made out to be. Largely because of players like Chris Gayle who make a difficult task look incredibly easy with the way that they bat. So when Gayle got to his fifty off 27 balls without barely breaking a sweat, he showed simply the calibre of batsman that he is.

Not only that but he also broke another record in the process. His fifty was the 15th time he had achieved a score of fifty of more, thereby equalling Brendon McCullum's record of 15 50+ scores in T20Is.

This was also the second time that the West Indian opener has scored three or more consecutive 50s in T20Is. His last three T20I innings read 77, 90 and 100*. He also jointly holds the record for most consecutive 50s in T20Is with McCullum (4), a record which is currently under threat now.

#1 Fastest World T20 hundred

Gayle now holds another record

There were so many records Brendon McCullum left cricket with and arguably one of the biggest was his record of the fastest World T20 century. But that is one fewer record in McCullum’s possession as he claimed the record for the fastest World T20 hundred by smashing a century off just 47 balls, beating the record of 51 balls previously held by McCullum.

Before the start of the match, Chris Gayle was on the brink of making history. He started the game on 49 sixes and needed just one more to become the first batsman to hit 50 World T20 and he got there in some style and finished the game with 60 World T20 sixes.

It is a show of just how much further ahead from the rest that the guy in second place is Yuvraj Singh with just 31 World T20 sixes.