TAUNTON, England, CMC – West Indies batsman Chris Gayle smashed an astonishing unbeaten hundred but Somerset still slipped to a three-wicket defeat to Kent, in the English T20 Blast here Sunday.
The left-hander carved out 151 not out off 62 balls – his 15th T20 century – as Somerset finished on 224 for seven, in pursuit of 228 for victory.
Gayle dominated the innings, striking 10 fours and 15 sixes, en route to the third highest individual T20 score in England.
He put on 113 for the third wicket with James Hildreth who struck 29 from 24 deliveries, but no other Somerset batsman stayed around long enough to ensure the hosts got over the line.
Somerset began the last over needing 17 runs but Gayle never got on strike until the third ball of the over and his 14 runs off the remaining four deliveries was not enough.
Earlier, Sam Northeast slammed 114 off 58 balls with 16 fours and two sixes while opener Daniel Bell-Drummond struck 51 from 31 deliveries, to propel Kent to 228 for seven off their 20 overs.
The pair put on 94 for the second wicket before Northeast added a further 80 for the third wicket with Sam Billings (24) and 40 for the fourth wicket with Darren Stevens (22).
Somerset were then floundering at 22 for two in the fourth over until Gayle launched his fireworks to haul his side back into the contest.
He survived chances on 46 and on 139, to plunder the Kent bowling with Darren Stevens, Fabian Cowdrey and Matt Coles conceding over 20 in individual overs.
Gayle, who blasted 92 on Friday in his debut game for Somerset, clobbered two fours and two sixes in the fifth over of the innings from veteran seamer Stevens which cost 20 before taking 24 from left-arm spinner Cowdrey’s second over, the 10th of the innings.
He reached his century off 29 balls when he smashed the third ball of Cowdrey’s over for six, and then required only a further 16 balls to reach three figures.
Somerset seemed out of it with 41 runs needed from the last two overs but the equation was made more realistic after Gayle took 22 from the penultimate over from seamer Coles, with three sixes and a four.
Sohail Tanvir fell for two off the first ball of the final over and Jamie Overton took a single next ball to give Gayle the strike.
The Jamaican got a four off the next delivery to leave Somerset needing 10 runs from the final two deliveries but he was kept scoreless from the fifth, handing Kent victory.
Still, Gayle had one final hurrah left, clearing the ropes with the final ball of the game for his 15th six.
