Chris Gayle made a grand entry into the 12th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) as he smashed a sensational 75 in the 4th game of the tournament against the Rajasthan Royals. He smashed the bowlers all around the park and made light work of the Rajasthan Royals bowling line-up, He came into the tournament on the back of a couple of centuries and a couple of fifties in the ODI series against England.
It was Rajasthan Royals skipper Ajinkya Rahane who won the toss and opted to field. Chris Gayle and KL Rahul came out to the crease to begin proceedings. Rahul was dismissed early after striking a boundary. Chris Gayle took his time in the initial stages and scored at run a ball. However, it was during the middle overs that Gayle started taking on the RR bowlers to the cleaners.
His knock was studded with 8 fours and 4 gigant8c sixes. Chris Gayle took on Jaydev Unadkat in one over and he didn’t have an idea in front of Gayle. Despite having a great season with the ball in the domestic circuit, Unadkat was taken to the cleaners. It was Chris Gayle at his very best and what he has been doing over the last 15 years.
He started taking on Ben Stokes to the cleaners and smashed a couple of sixes and a four before getting dismissed of a short of length delivery. He went for a pull but never managed to time it properly. It was Rahul Tripathi who took a terrific catch in the boundary. If Gayle was there till the end, he would have definitely scored a century and taken the score in excess of 200.
— KhurShah (@ShahKhur) March 25, 2019
However after his dismissal, Kings XI Punjab lost the momentum a bit. Youngster Sarfaraz Khan played well and when the article was written he was batting unbeaten on 30. Windies batsman Nicholas Pooran is at the other end giving him support. At the end of 18 overs, Rajasthan has currently scored 155 runs at the loss of 3 wickets.