Gayle back to his brutal best as Kings XI Punjab score 197/7
15 April 2018 6:16 PM GMT
Mohali: Chris Gayle showed that he was not yet a spent force as he smashed his second fastest fifty in the IPL to help Kings XI Punjab post a healthy 197 for seven against Chennai Super Kings here on Sunday.
The 38-year-old Jamaican, who twice went unsold at the auction and was later picked up by the Punjab franchise for a base price of Rs 2 crore, played a trademark innings toying with the opposition attack.
Playing his first game of the season, he hammered 66 off 33 balls and raced to his half-century off 22 balls. His fastest fifty had come off 17 balls, against Pune in 2013.
His knock was studded with four sixes and seven boundaries.
The West Indian weaved a 96-run opening partnership alongside the in-form K L Rahul (37 off 22), setting up the platform for a big score.
Mayank Agarwal (30 off 19) and Karun Nair (29 off 17) too chipped in with useful contributions.
For CSK , Shardul Thakur and Imran Tahir picked up two scalps each while Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson and Dwayne Bravo got a wicket each.
Harbhajan Singh gave Chennai the first breakthrough when Rahul was caught by Dwayne Bravo, but by then KXIP were comfortably placed and reached 100 in just 8.4 overs.
Two overs later Gayle too departed, handing over a simple catch to Imran Tahir at short fine leg off Shane Watson's bowling.
Tahir dealt a double blow in innings' 16th over removing a set Agarwal and Aaron Finch, who was out for a first-ball duck for the second game in a row.
Yuvraj Singh (20 off 13), who struggled in the first two games, seemed to get into his groove before Thakur had him caught behind off a short ball.
KXIP slowed down in the last five overs but eventually reached an imposing total.
Next Story
