Chris Gayle's cursed six

Chris Gayle has played many match-defining innings for his team in all three forms of cricket. Most recently, we watched his exploits in the IPL and in the recently concluded series against New Zealand. Chris Gayle has amazing ability to hit sixes frequently and with some ease. He has already hit more than 300 sixes in international matches.

One such six hit by Gayle proved to be the turning point of a test match. It may seem an exaggeration of a six considering the talking point is a test match. This incident may not find any space in the history books, but, it surely was a defining moment in the match.

The Test series between West Indies and New Zealand in March 2006 started with the first match being played at Eden Park, Auckland. West Indies captain Chanderpaul won the toss in bowling-friendly conditions and decided to have a go at the Kiwi batsmen. The decision turned out to be right for the West Indies as the Kiwis were bundled out for less than 300 with only a commendable performance from Scott Styris. In response, the West Indian batsmen gave a similar sort of reply and handed the Kiwis a slender lead.

The Kiwis managed to give the West Indians a formidable target of 291. The match was set for an enthralling finish as the target gave both the teams a chance to go 1-0 in the 3-Test series. New Zealand had the likes of Shane Bond, Daniel Vettori and Chris Martin in their ranks, whereas their opposition had Gayle, Sarwan, Lara and Chanderpaul.

West Indies started their chase late into the third day and were comfortably placed at 48 for no loss with openers Gayle and Ganga at the crease. The morning hour was expected to be helpful for the bowlers but the openers saw the bowling comfortably. It seemed that the pitch had lost its venom and also the Kiwis bowling lacked some teeth. The ball lost its shine and more than half the runs were already made with all the ten wickets intact. Both the openers were doing great in getting their team closer to the target. Victory seemed inevitable for West Indies with opposition bowlers almost giving up, but the match was just reaching its climax.

Chris Gayle playing his usual game, hit a huge six off Vettori with the ball literally going out of the park. The ball was lost and the match resumed with a new ball. With the new shining ball in hand, Shane Bond found his lost rhythm, swung the new ball and ripped through the West Indian batting order, taking 5 wickets with good support from Nathan Astle and Vettori. West Indies were bundled with all ten wickets falling at the expense of just 115 runs. They went from 148 for no loss to 263 all out. Shane Bond was declared man of the match as New Zealand won the match by 27 runs, thanks to their bowlers and that mighty six from Chris Gayle.