Stats: Chris Gayle shines in BPL 2017 final, slams record-breaking ton

Even at 38, Christopher Gayle just refuses to die down.

The Jamaican set the Shere Bangla National Stadium ablaze with a scintillating display of brazen strokeplay, smashing a 69-ball 146 for the Rangpur Riders in the finals of the Bangladesh Premier League 2017.

In the process, he smacked as many as 18 sixes, a world record, bettering his own tally of 17 sixes that he hit for the Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors India during IPL 2013. He occupies three out of the five slots for batsmen who have scored the most sixes in a single T20 innings.

Here's the complete list:

Most 6's in Twenty20 innings:

18 sixes - CHRIS GAYLE v Dhaka, Today

17 sixes - Chris Gayle v PWI, 2013

16 sixes - Graham Napier v Sussex, 2008

16 sixes - Dasun Shanaka v Saracens, 2016

15 sixes - Chris Gayle v Somerset, 2015

Opening the batting for the Riders, he also became the first man to hit 20 hundreds in T20 games. He also completed a mammoth 11,000 runs in the game's shortest format itself.

He also became the first player to hit hundred sixes in the history of the BPL. No single batsman has hit even 50 maximums. This was also the highest score in a T20 final.

While Johnson Charles, Gayle's opening partner, couldn't get going, the West Indian found company in the retired Kiwi legend Brendon McCullum, who played the ideal second-fiddle, letting Gayle make merry as he eased his way to a 43-ball 51.

This was the 15th time Gayle had hit 10 or more sixes in a single T20 innings. His dominance over the format can be highlighted best by the fact that Brendon McCullum and Dasun Shanaka are the second best, having hit 10+ sixes on two occasions each.

He became the first batsman to hit 20 centuries in Tests, ODIs and T20s.

Here's the list of T20 tons he has hit year-wise:

2007: WI

2011: RCB (2), Matabeland, Sydney Thunder

2012: Barisal Burners (2), RCB

2013: Jamaica, Dhaka Gladiators, RCB

2014: Jamaica, Lions

2015: RCB, Somerset, Jamaica

2016: WI, Jamaica

2017: Rangpur (2)