OTD | Chris Gayle plundered KKR on RCB debut, scored maiden IPL hundred
RCB defeated KKR by 9 wickets in that encounter.
SHARE
Apr 22, 2023 12:12 pm
Chris Gayle (Source: Twitter)
Chris Gayle, on this day in 2011, began a fantastic love story with RCB in the Indian Premier League. The big Jamaican was not cutting it out with KKR and had not been consistent for them. KKR released him and when he switched to RCB, he took his revenge against KKR.
Chris Gayle wreaked havoc at Eden Gardens in a clash against KKR. RCB won the toss and chose to field first. KKR notched a 171 total in their 20 overs on the back of aggressive 40s from Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan.
In the second innings, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chris Gayle opened the batting for RCB. The man from the Caribbean showed KKR what he was made of. He treated the Eden Gardens to one of the many Gayle storms that had become synonymous with him and RCB, over the years.
He scored a blistering 102 off 55 balls with 10 fours and seven sixes. RCB did not have a good start to the 2011 IPL. When Gayle replaced an injured Dirk Nannes, he, singlehandedly, changed RCB’s fortunes in that edition.
RCB chased down KKR’s score of 171-5 with 2.1 overs to spare and put up a great performance
The KKR bowlers had no answer to Gayle’s onslaught as they did not know what hit them. They had no answer to Gayle’s belligerent hitting. The West Indian made great use of the wonderful batting conditions at Eden Gardens and helped RCB chase the target with the loss of just one wicket. RCB ended at 175-1. Gayle was ably supported by Dilshan who made 38 off 31 balls with six fours.
Virat Kohli also scored a nice 30 off 23 balls with three fours and two sixes. The two players stitched valuable partnerships with Gayle and made sure that RCB were doing to win the game. Incidentally, RCB made it to the final that year on the back of Gayle’s heroics. In the 12 matches he played in 2011, he scored 608 runs at an average of 67.55. He also chipped in with the ball and picked up eight wickets with his off spin.
This started the love affair of Gayle hitting balls out into Cubbon Park in Bangalore. He was with RCB till the 2018 IPL which was an absolute match made in heaven. It was one of the great stories in the IPL. The biggest beneficiary of course was the passionate home crowd at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium who loved having Gayle at RCB.
Let us take a look at the reactions on Twitter:
Bro dont remind him He May Come Back out of Retirement 💀
something similar story with hayley mathews,carriebian opener no one showed intrest in her then got bid in later auction by mi at low price,she proved to be explosive opener
