Gayle signs for South Africa's Dolphins

Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle has signed to play for South African franchise the Dolphins in the South African domestic Twenty20 (T20) competition, the Durban-based team announced on Thursday.

Gayle, 31, has been involved in a protracted dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board and not turned out for the team since he played in a World Cup quarter-final against Pakistan in Dhaka on March 23.

The left-handed Gayle, who will join the Dolphins next February, is regarded as one of the most devastating batsmen in world cricket.

He has scored 6,373 runs in his 91 Test matches, and accumulated 8,087 runs in 228 ODIs.

In the 20 T20 internationals he has played, Gayle has bludgeoned 617 runs at a strike-rate of 144.49 and is one of only five men to have scored a T20 international century.