Chris Gayle became the first batsman to hit two centuries in the Indian Premier League when he smashed a 49-ball 107 in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 85-run win over Kings XI Punjab on Friday. The West Indies opener, who scored an unbeaten hundred against Kolkata Knight Riders last month, cracked nine sixes and 10 fours in a superb display of power-hitting to help Bangalore post a challenging 205-6. Bangalore, with Gayle taking 3-21 with his off-spinners, then restricted Punjab to 120-9 for their fifth win in nine matches of the Twenty20 tournament.
Seamer Sreenath Aravind took 4-14. Punjab could never recover after losing four wickets, including those of hard-hitting Australians Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh, for 34 runs in the opening six overs. South African Ryan McLaren (28), Paul Valthaty (21) and Dinesh Karthik (20) were the main scorers in Punjab’s dismal batting performance. Mumbai currently lead the 10-team league table with 14 points, followed by Kolkata (12), Chennai (12), Bangalore (11), Rajasthan (11), Kochi (10), Delhi (eight), Deccan (six), Punjab (six) and Pune (four).
Gayle went for big shots early in his innings, hitting Australian paceman Ryan Harris for two sixes in an over. His best came in the eighth over when he smashed two sixes and as many fours off seamer Praveen Kumar. The opener, who raced to his half-century off just 28 balls, dominated a 111-run stand for the second wicket with Virat Kohli (27) before falling in the 15th over, caught at deep mid-wicket off leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. South African AB de Villiers then hit an unbeaten 27 off 14 balls to help Bangalore cross the 200-mark. Harris was the most successful bowler with 3-38, including two wickets off successive balls, while Chawla finished with 2-37.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 205-6 in 20 overs (C. Gayle 107, AB de Villiers 27 not out, V. Kohli 27; R. Harris 3-38, P. Chawla 2-37) beat Kings XI Punjab 120-9 in 20 overs (R. McLaren 28, P. Valthaty 21, D. Karthik 20; S. Aravind 4-14, C. Gayle 3-21) by 85 runs.
