Superstar Chris Gayle’s wretched form showing no signs of improvement

BANGALORE, India, CMC – Superstar Chris Gayle’s wretched form showed no signs of improvement but teammates Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers lashed astonishing centuries to fire Royal Challengers Bangalore to a record 144-run victory over Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League here yesterday.

Sent in at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, RCB piled up a massive 248 for three off their 20 overs, with de Villiers blasting an unbeaten 129 runs from 52 deliveries and captain Kohli stroking 109 off 55 balls – his third hundred of the campaign.

De Villiers struck 10 fours and 12 sixes while Kohli gathered five fours and eight sixes as they put on a record 229 for the second wicket off 96 deliveries – a partnership that changed the course of the game after Gayle had fallen cheaply yet again in the fourth over with the score on 19 for one.

The Jamaican struggled over 13 deliveries for his six before chopping on to seamer Dhawal Kulkarni, to register his fifth straight single digit score this season.

Gayle, 36, now has scores 1, 0, 7, 5 and 6 and has gone eight innings overall without a double figure score since his unbeaten hundred against England in West Indies’ opening game of the Twenty20 World Cup in March.

West Indies teammate Dwayne Bravo struggled with the ball, conceding 46 runs from three overs of medium pace, while also going wicketless.

In reply, Gujarat Lions slumped to 104 all out off 18.4 overs as former Barbados and current England seamer Chris Jordan destroyed the innings with a superb spell of four for 11 from three overs.

Barbados and West Indies opener Dwayne Smith managed just seven at the top of the order while Bravo also failed with the bat, scoring just one batting at number six.

The victory kept RCB in playoff contention, in sixth place on 10 points while Lions wasted the opportunity to go top of the standings. They lie third on 14 points, the same as leaders Sunrisers Hyderabad and second placed Kolkata Knight Riders, the latter two having played one match less.