Mills skittles out Gayle in Sussex win
Former Mildenhall College Academy student Tymal Mills was one of the stars of the show as his Sussex side defeated Somerset in the NatWest T20 Blast last night.
The 23-year-old bowler claimed two wickets during the 48-run victory at Hove, one of which sent arguably the world’s best limited-overs batsmen back to the dressing room.
No player in the shortest format of the game has scored more runs than Chris Gayle (9,071), but the big-hitting West Indian could not live with Mills’ pace on the South Coast.
Gayle had just five runs on the board when Mills bounded in with a yorker that clattered into the stumps at a speed of 93.3mph.
Mills later removed Somerest’s top-scorer Roelof van der Merwe (59) to end the innings with figures of 2-11 from 2.4 overs.
Having been set 223 for victory by the hosts, Gayle and his team-mates fell well short of that target on 174 all out.
Mills’ performance has convinced some pundits that he should be included in the England squad for their upcoming T20 internationals against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain was particularly positive, telling Sky Sports News: “Other than the fear of him snapping, there is no reason this lad shouldn’t play T20 for England or domestically around the world.
“He bowled out world superstar Gayle, nearly bumped out Mahela Jayawardena and showed he has a brilliant slower ball as well as a brilliant faster ball. In terms of raw ability, he has it all.”