It was only a matter of time, but a strong Gayle blew through the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium last night and left Kings XI devastated.
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The West Indies batsman unleashed hell on the Punjab bowlers, scoring a 57-ball 117 as Royal Challengers Bangalore won by a mighty 138 runs in the Indian Premier League.
What’s worse for Kings XI is not only that captain George Bailey won the toss and elected to field, but that both the Australian and then Manan Vohra dropped Chris Gayle in the second and eighth over.
Chris Gayle century off 46 balls: eleven 6s; five 4s; dropped twice; hit the roof of the stadium twice. Incredible batting
— Doron Salomon (@DoronSalomon) May 6, 2015
From that moment he didn’t give them another chance and alongside captain Virat Kohli, who made 32, and AB De Villiers’ 47 Bangalore posted an ominous 226-3.
Gayle marked his 14th Twenty20 century by copying Cristiano Ronaldo’s trademark jump, pirouette and throwing of the arms in a show of strength.
In response, Kings XI never got going with both Mitchell Starc 4-15 and Sreenath Aravind 4-14 posting four-wicket hauls as the match was done inside 14 overs.
Kohli said: “If I don’t smile after that performance, something is wrong with me. The top three contributed and then Chris Gayle’s innings and then we bowled really well as well. It’s the way he plays, it’s almost impossible to stop him in Bangalore.”
After being put in by Kings XI, Gayle and Kohli motored their way to 51 without loss, although Bailey was still cursing his drop as he spilled a top edge form the West Indies batsman running backwards to mid-off.
Gayle offered another chance just after he brought up his 50 but Vohra too couldn’t make it stick fielding on the square leg boundary in what should have been a regulation chance.
Kohli fell in the 11th over, bowled by Sandeep Sharma, but as long as Gayle had support, Bangalore were always going to be OK. He reached triple figures off 46 deliveries with a four and partner De Villiers celebrated by blasting Karanveer Singh for three successive sixes in the next over.
Kings XI still had five more overs of punishment to go, although once Axar Patel removed Gayle with a sharp caught and bowled the run rate slowed, RCB reaching 226.
Whether deflated by Gayle’s knock or just merely displaying a lack of confidence, Punjab’s response was substandard.
Seven batsmen were clean bowled and only two made double figures, with Mitchell Johnson the seventh wicket to fall as Kings XI were one short of reaching 50. The excellent Axar Patel was the only man to provide any kind of resistance with an unbeaten 40.
Bailey said: “We gave him a couple of chances, I’ve got to bear responsibility for that. When asked what went through his mind when Gayle was going ballistic, he replied, “Why did you drop him, you idiot’.”
