Melbourne, 18 January - West Indian Chris Gayle has smashed the joint-fastest 50 in the history of Twenty20 cricket, taking just 12 balls to reach the mark during a whirlwind knock for Melbourne Renegades against Adelaide Strikers in a Big Bash League (BBL) tournament here on Monday.
Set a target of 171 runs from 16 overs, Renegades' Gayle simply exploded, hitting four successive sixes in the first over of the innings from youngster Greg West.
The assault continued in the third over, Gayle taking 22 from Ben Laughlin to take himself to 44 from 11 deliveries.
He still needed a six to equal the world record for the fastest T20 fifty, set by Yuvraj Singh at the 2007 T20 World Cup against England in Durban - a knock that included six sixes in an over from pacer Stuart Broad.
The left-hander was out shortly after, on 56 from 17 balls. Gayle's knock also smashed the BBL record for the fastest fifty, from 18 balls, first set by Tim Ludeman in BBL 2014-15.
But Gayle's bombarding effort was still not enough for his team to win, as they lost by 27 runs, folding for 143 in 15.3 overs.