Gayle's blazing ton hands Sunrisers first loss
The opener smashed his sixth IPL hundred and 21st overall in T20s to lead Kings XI Punjab to 193 for 3, a score that proved too much for Sunrisers Hyderabad
The opener smashed his sixth IPL hundred and 21st overall in T20s to lead Kings XI Punjab to 193 for 3, a score that proved too much for Sunrisers Hyderabad
Scorer: M Venkat Raghav | Commentator: Shashank Kishore
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11.30pm R Ashwin won the toss, chose to bat, brave considering no other captain had done that so far this season, and Kings XI still managed to defend in style. Kings XI have signed off from Mohali with three wins. This is the first loss for Sunrisers this season.
Rahul Oak: "To those giving Pandey flak: you need to understand he's not a 2-runs-a-ball kind of player. The real mistake is that SRH haven't picked Hales at the top of their order, who could theoretically give them the kind of starts you need to chase down ~200 in 20 overs. With this line up, SRH are always going to struggle to chase down anything over 8 RPO. "
Time for the presentation
R Ashwin, the Kings XI captain: This was a complete performance. We could've concede 10 runs lesser to work on the net run rate, didn't happen but we're still happy. We thought giving them a reasonable score to chase is something we could handle at the back end. Chris batted beautifully and took it away from them. It's more about who we play and what works best. It's about doing well in the Powerplay. For example Mohit v Dhawan was a clean match-up. It was extremely pleasing to see the crowd today, we have never seen this in Mohali. Chris entertained them. One word won't be enough to describe his knock. His style is hard to replicate, when it comes off, it's hard to match it.
Chris Gayle is the Player of the Match for his sixth IPL ton. "I'm always determined, wherever I go in the world and whichever franchise I represent," he says. "A lot of people said 'Chris has a point to prove.' Virender Sehwag has saved the IPL by picking me. Sehwag said in an interview: If Chris wins you two games, we have our monies worth. I need to have a chat with him about that!" I'm glad to be able to get 100 here today. I'm going to miss this wicket to be honest. Time waits for no one but I'm not here to prove anything to be anyone. I just want to move on, enjoy my cricket."
Williamson, the Sunrisers captain: "Hats off to Chris Gayle. We know what he can do. This wicket wasn't a free-flowing wicket. We can learn a few things from the way they bowled. They bowled a touch short, we were much fuller. Shikhar has been hitting the ball beautifully, he's got a role to play. Tonight, our loss wasn't because of lack of effort. The lengths they bowled was superb, they used the big boundaries well. Now, we've to just look forward to the next game. There's been a clear pattern of play we're looking to execute, we didn't do that tonight."
Andrew Tye , who picked 2 for 23 tonight: Always helps when you have a performance like the way Chris Gayle put on. Different ground, different conditions, it has taken me a couple of games to get used to, but I'm enjoying it.
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Chris Gayle's dominance in T20s showed once again as he smashed his 3rd T20 hundred in seven innings while also collecting his second Man-of-the-Match award in a row
The opener smashed his sixth IPL hundred and 21st overall in T20s to lead Kings XI Punjab to 193 for 3, a score that proved too much for Sunrisers Hyderabad