Chris Gayle slams first double ton in World Cup history; hailed on Twitter

After having a poor start to the tournament, West Indies opener Chris Gayle was back in form as he slammed the first double century in World Cup history.

Canberra: After having a poor start to the ICC World Cup 2015, West Indies opener Chris Gayle was back in form as he slammed the first double century in the history of ICC's pinnacle event.

Gayle, who could score just 40 runs in the first two innings of the prestigious event, made a mockery of the Zimbabwe bowling attack and also created history by becoming the only non-Indian cricketer to score a double ton in ODIs.

Gayle started the innings on a very cautious note and reached his half-century off 51 balls and century off 105 balls. But he stepped up the gas from there onwards and scored the next 100 runs off just 32 balls. He was dismissed off the final ball of the innings by Masakadza.

Gayle also surpassed the highest individual score in World Cup, previously held by Gary Kirsten. Kirsten had scored unbeaten 188 runs against off 159 balls against UAE in 1996 World Cup.

Apart from Gayle, Rohit Sharma, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar are the only three cricketers to have scored a double ton in limited-overs cricket.

The left-hander's special knock was hailed on Twitter.

Finally he's got a double hundred in one day cricket ! That doesn't surprise me who els than @henrygayle what a stage to get it thou — yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) February 24, 2015

Well played @henrygayle ! — Brett Lee (@BrettLee_58) February 24, 2015

The Windies skipper said Chris @henrygayle was awake ! Awake and how !! The Jamaican lion is more than awake and roaring !! — Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) February 24, 2015

Congrats @henrygayle Ist ever player to get double hundred in World Cup history!Great achievement big man! — Azhar Mahmood (@AzharMahmood11) February 24, 2015