Ipl 4: Gayle's Brutal Innings Helps Rcb Crush Kxip

Bangalore: West Indian swashbuckler Chris Gayle played one of the most destructive Twenty20 innings with a 49-ball 107 as Royal Challengers Bangalore crushed Kings XI Punjab by 85 runs in a lopsided Indian Premier League match
on Friday.

Gayle single-handedly took RCB to 205 for six, IPL 4`s second highest total after the home side were put into bat, with a sensational exhibition of big hitting as he butchered KXIP bowlers with nine sixes and 10 fours on a spongy M Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch.

Chasing a stiff target of 206, KXIP could score 120 for nine with none of their batsmen contributing a substantial score. All-rounder Ryan McLaren top-scored with 28 on a forgettable day for KXIP whose top five batsmen were back at the pavillion by the eighth over for just 50 runs.

Gayle also took three wickets for 21 from his quota of four overs. Sreenath Aravind was though the most successful RCB bowler with 4/14 from his four overs while captain Daniel Vettori chipped in with one wicket.

The night truly belonged to Gayle whose batting pyrotechnics left the home crowd spellbound as he went past a flurry of records.

Gayle became the first player to score two centuries in IPL history after his 55-ball 102 against Kolkata Knight Riders in his first match this year.

He recorded the fastest hundred in IPL 4, bettering Virender Sehwag`s 48-ball ton against Deccan Chargers by two balls while his nine sixes today was the most in IPL 4. He has now struck 21 sixes in IPL, the most in the tournament`s history, three more than Delhi captain Virender Sehwag`s 18.

Out of his 107 today, Gayle score 94 runs from fours and sixes, also the most in IPL history.

RCB could not have imagined for a worse start in their chase with opener and captain Adam Gilchrist run out in the first ball of the innings bowled by Zaheer Khan as the Australian failed to beat an Asad Pathan direct hit to the wicket.

Abhishek Nayar (1) joined Gilchrist at the dressing room in the second over and danger man Paul Valthaty (21) was out in fifth over and KXIP were tottering at 28 for three by then.

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