West Indian opener Chris Gayle lifted struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore by bludgeoning his way to an unbeaten 102 and ensuring a nine-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL on Friday.
The 31-year-old left-hander, playing his first match in this edition of the Twenty20 tournament, smashed seven sixes and 10 fours off only 55 deliveries. He added 123 runs for the first wicket with Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan (38) as Bangalore reached 175-1 off 18.1 overs in reply to Kolkata’s 171-5.
For Kolkata, captain Gautam Gambhir top-scored with 48 while Yusuf Pathan (46) and South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis (40) were the other main contributors.
Kolkata remains on six points with three wins from six games, while Bangalore is now on five points from six outings with two wins and a no result.
Gayle started the tournament in style, coming in as a replacement for injured fast bowler Dirk Nannes and striking the winning runs off Bangladesh spinner Shakib al-Hassan to also reach his century.
“It is great to get a century in the first match,” Gayle said. “I had not practiced much back home and picked up the bat for the first time after the World Cup.” For Kolkata, Gambhir produced a solid 48 off 38 balls, adding 95 for the second wicket with Kallis.
Strike bowler Zaheer Khan went for 53 runs in his four overs without taking a wicket as Bangalore struggled to control the flow of runs, especially toward the end of the innings.
Big-hitting batsman Yusuf Pathan hit three sixes and three fours off only 24 deliveries before he was caught at long-off by Virat Kohli off left-arm seamer Srinath Aravind (2-37), who also dismissed Gambhir.
