BANGALORE, India, CMC – Under-fire West Indies opener Chris Gayle uncorked an exhilarating all-round performance in the Indian Premier League yesterday, blasting his second century in four innings and snatching three wickets to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore to an 85-run win over Kings XI Punjab.
The giant left-hander belted 10 fours and nine massive sixes in a pulsating 107 from a mere 49 balls, as the hosts raced to 205 for six from their 20 overs after being sent in at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
He then returned with his off-spin to capture three for 21 from his four-over quota to help restrict the visitors for 120 for nine off their allotted overs.
Gayle’s performances come on the heels of his recent brouhaha with the West Indies Cricket Board over his decision to opt out of the One-Day International and Test series against Pakistan in the Caribbean, in favour of the lucrative IPL.
The Jamaican, who opened his IPL campaign with a sensational unbeaten 102 against his former side Kolkata Knight Riders last month, lost opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan (16) after a 43-run stand off 29 balls.
Gayle then dominated a 111-run, second wicket stand with Virat Kohli (27), racing to his half-century from 28 balls with five fours and four sixes.
He smashed 22 off one over from fast bowler Praveen Kumar to reach his 50 and then stepped on the accelerator to raise three-figures off 46 balls, thumping a low full toss from seamer Ryan McLaren to long off for four.
Gayle eventually fell in the next over from leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, holing out to Ryan Harris at deep mid-wicket.
In reply, McLaren top scored with 28, Dinesh Karthik got 21 and Paul Valthaty scraped 20 but left-arm seamer Sreenath Aravind snatched four for 14 to undermine the Kings XI innings.
Bowling a stingy spell, Gayle accounted for Valthaty and Karthik before also snapping up Chawla to round off his success.
