Kings XI Punjab banked on Chris Gayle’s magnificent 99-run knock to post 185 runs against Rajasthan Royals at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, Gayle looked extremely gutted with himself after missing his century by one run.
Steve Smith won the toss and wanted to bowl not knowing what to expect from the surface and the dew being a major worry. Things could have been different for Royals had they not given Chris Gayle two lives, but Gayle took his chances wisely for most parts.
Rahul Tewatia was teasing him but he held his composure on occasions and got lucky once. KL Rahul, as usual, laid a good platform after Mandeep got a nasty short ball first up from Jofra Archer. Rajasthan Royals tried but couldn’t break the 120-run stand until Ben Stokes provided the magic.
Chris Gayle loses his cool
Nicholas Pooran came in and played only as he could. Kartik Tyagi did get his yorkers right for a good part, but Gayle managed to send a few over the boundary until a brilliance from Archer denied him a well-deserved century.
It was a brilliant delivery from Jofra Archer who hit the target to knock off Universe Boss’ stumps. It was not quite a yorker but a full delivery which was angling in. Chris Gayle missed the flick and the ball hit off the pad and into the off stump.
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Chris Gayle lost his cool and swings the bat in disappointment and lost grip and it flies towards short mid-wicket. Archer congratulates him for the knock. That’s why he was so livid.
Watch the video here:
Speaking at the end of the game, Chris Gayle revealed that he has promised a century to his teammates. Although he missed it by one run, Gayle jokingly said it was a hundred in his mind.
“To the guys who I promised to get a century, I missed out today but in my mind, it’s a century (laughs),” Gayle said in the mid-innings break.Â
