Sreenath Aravind

Bangalore: West Indian swashbuckler Chris Gayle played one of the most destructive Twenty20 innings with a 49-ball 107 as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) crushed Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by 85 runs in a lopsided Indian Premier League match here on Friday.

Gayle single-handedly took RCB to 205 for six, the second highest total in IPL-4. After the home side were put into bat, the West Indian butchered KXIP bowlers with nine sixes and 10 fours on a spongy M Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch in a sensational display of big hitting.

Chasing a stiff target of 206, KXIP could only manage 120 runs after losing nine of their batsmen. All-rounder Ryan McLaren top-scored with 28 on a forgettable day for KXIP whose top five batsmen were back at the pavillion by the eighth over for just 50 runs.

Gayle also took three wickets for 21 from his quota of four overs. Sreenath Aravind was, however, the most successful RCB bowler with 4/14 from his four overs while captain Daniel Vettori chipped in with one wicket.

The night truly belonged to Gayle whose batting pyrotechnics left the home crowd spellbound as he went past a flurry of records. He became the first player to score two centuries in IPL history after his 55-ball 102 against Kolkata Knight Riders in his first match this year.

He also recorded the fastest hundred in IPL-4, bettering Virender Sehwag’s 48-ball ton against Deccan Chargers by two balls while his nine sixes was the most in IPL-4. He has now struck 21 sixes in IPL, the most in the tournament’s history, three more than Sehwag’s 18.

Out of his 107, Gayle scored 94 runs from fours and sixes, also the most in IPL history.

KXIP started on a wrong foot when an Asad Pathan direct hit saw the back of their opener and captain Adam Gilchrist. Abhishek Nayar (1) joined Gilchrist at the dressing room in the second over and danger man Paul Valthaty (21) was out in fifth over and KXIP were struggling at 28 for three by then.