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Aggression. Flamboyance. Individual and team records characterise T20 games.
Sometimes even the best ain't just good enough.
Rediff.com looks at individual feats that failed to inspire victory.
Gayle storm and the lull thereafter...
The first century of the first ICC T20 World Cup.
And who better to set that record than Chris Gayle, arguably one of the best, if not the best, batsman in the format.
Gayle smashed a 57-ball 117 -- an innings that included a record 10 sixes, the most in one innings in T20 cricket -- to help the West Indies score a formidable 205/6 at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
Gayle's opening wicket partnership of 145 with Devon Smith was another record, the highest in the format at the time.
On another day, Gayle's effort may have been good enough. On that day, alas, it wasn't.
A 55-ball 90 not out by Herschelle Gibbs, and his unbroken 128-run third wicket stand with Justin Kemp (46 not out), helped South Africa to a memorable victory, with a whopping 14 balls to spare.
Not quite a Gayle feat
The Windies swashbuckler holds a slew of T20 records. There are some he would rather forget.
One of those instances came in the semi-final of the second ICC T20 World Cup in England.
The Windies restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 158/5 at The Oval. Tillekeratne Dilshan's unbeaten 57-ball 96 was the best effort of the Lankan innings.
Dilshan scored 60.76% of Sri Lanka's runs, a new T20 record, a milestone which didn't last very long.
Gayle's unbeaten 50-ball 63 accounted for 62.38% of the West Indies total (101). Kane Williamson's 42 out of New Zealand's 60 against Sri Lanka in the last ICC T20 World Cup is now the highest percentage (70%) contribution to a team's total in T20s.
Gayle also became the first player in T20 cricket to carry his bat through the innings. It didn't matter. His team lost.
A five-wicket over...
A game between Australia and Pakistan in the third ICC T20 World Cup in the West Indies.
Thanks to Shane Watson's 49-ball 81, Australia appeared to be running away with the match at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia.
Then came Mohammad Aamir.
Entrusted the task of keeping the Aussies to less than 200, Aamir was up for it.
Bowling the final over, he bowled a triple wicket maiden. There were also two run-outs, meaning five wickets fell in the final over of the Australian innings.
The Pakistani batsmen failed to build on Aamir's effort, helping Australia book a Super Eight berth.