TAUNTON, England, CMC – West Indies superstar Chris Gayle continued to set the English T20 Blast alight, unfurling yet another scintillating half-century to guide Somerset to a handsome eight-wicket victory over Hampshire here Friday.
The left-hander blasted an unbeaten 85 as the hosts, chasing 168 for victory, reached their target with nine balls to spare.
Gayle’s innings followed previous knocks of 92 and 151 not out, and he now has 328 runs from just three innings in the tournament.
“It’s a great win. The last game was a cracker, but we ended up on the losing side. So to finish on top today was fantastic, and to be among the runs again is even better,” Gayle said afterward.
“Hopefully we can carry on the momentum from this game. I think they break now and play a four-day game, so the guys will still be playing cricket, but I’ll take a break and have a few ciders.
“I can’t take away the fact the bowlers did well – to restrict them to 160-odd on this wicket was fantastic. I thought a par score was 180.”
Gayle faced just 49 deliveries and blasted four fours and eight sixes – to take his tally of the latter to 29 from his three innings.
Somerset lost Marcus Trescothick cheaply for one in the second over but Gayle then anchored two successive half-century stands to put the hosts on top.
Firstly, he put on 89 for the second wicket with Peter Trego who hit 51 from 34 deliveries before adding a further 78 in an unbroken third wicket stand with James Hildreth who was unbeaten on 27 from 29 balls.
Earlier, captain James Vince top-scored with an unbeaten 64 off 53 deliveries as Hampshire tallied 167 for three off their 20 overs, after opting to bat first.
