Chris Gayle hits 1st Double Hundred in World Cup History

Explosive batsman Chris Gayle became the fourth batsman in the history of ODI to score a double hundred. He set the stadium at Manuka Oval, Canberra on fire, as he also set a record of being the first player to score a double hundred in World Cup history. The previous record for highest individual score in the World Cup was held by South African Gary Kirsten (188*).

Earlier, only Indian players Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma had scored double hundreds in ODI. Rohit Sharma hit ODI double hundreds twice. Gayle scored 215 off 147 balls with 10 boundaries and 16 sixes.

Marlon Samuels too scored his 8th ODI hundred. West Indies lost the first wicket (Dwayne Smith) for no runs on board. But, Gayle and Samuels added 372 runs for the second wicket, which is a new record for any wicket in ODI history. They scored 152 runs in the last 10 overs. Samuels remained unbeaten on 133. West Indies finished at 372/2 in 50 overs against Zimbabwe, whose players produced worst-ever fielding today to allow the West Indies players to pile up runs. This is the highest ODI total posted by the West Indies.