WC double ton hitter Gayle claims 'age definitely catching up on him'

West Indies opener Christ Gayle has claimed that age is definitely catching up on him, after he became the first batsman to score a World Cup double ton in their clash against Zimbabwe on Tuesday.

Gayle inked his name in the history books by becoming the first batsman to score a World Cup double ton when he smashed a breathtaking 215 against Zimbabwe at Canberra's Manuka Oval for his first double century in 226 ODIs.

Gayle's double ton came off just 138 balls, which was also the quickest 200 in all ODI cricket, including nine fours and 16 sixes as he surpassed the previous World Cup best of 188 not out by South Africa's Gary Kirsten against the United Arab Emirates at Rawalpindi in 1996, Sport24 reported.

Gayle was eventually out off the last delivery of the innings, having faced 147 balls, with 10 fours and 16 sixes taking his team to an imposing 372 for two in the company of Marlon Samuels, who remained unbeaten on 133.

Zimbabwe were bowled out for 289 in reply to give West Indies a 73-run win on the Duckworth/Lewis method.

Left-hander Gayle's record blast meant he has now completed a career sweep of a triple century in Tests, double century in ODIs and a century in Twenty20 internationals.

Gayle, who was fortunate to be given not out after an lbw appeal on the first ball he faced, claimed that he was under pressure to score runs, and he kept getting messages from Twitter and on his cell phone from fans.

The big-hitting batsman claimed that he has never known so many people wanting Chris Gayle to do so well.

Gayle claimed that a lot of time people don't know what one is going through as he had some issues with injuries.

Gayle insisted that he is also not getting any younger so age is definitely catching up on him.

Gayle's innings was only the fifth double century in all ODI cricket and the first by a non-Indian, with Rohit Sharma (two), Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag the only other batsmen to achieve the feat, the report added.