Chris Gayle scored an unbeaten inning of 104. (Source: IPL)
Chris Gayle slammed his 6th hundred in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Friday. His 58-ball century in the 16th match of the tournament was also his 21st in T20 cricket. Incidentally, this was his slowest century so far. In an unbeaten inning of 104 (63 balls), Gayle put the bowlers to the sword as he smashed an astounding 11 sixes and only one boundary. Gayle now has 279 sixes in IPL, which is 100 more than the next best, Rohit Sharma (179). With a nudge towards the cover region, he brought up his hundred in the 18th over of the match.
How good has @henrygayle been tonight?
He brings up his 6th IPL 💯 #UniverseBoss pic.twitter.com/jtVcz1IiZk
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) 19 April 2018
Dedicating his century to his daughter, Gayle said, “A lot of people thought that I am old. Nothing to prove though. Wherever I go across the globe, just want to earn some respect. This one is dedicated to my daughter Crisalina though; it’s her birthday tomorrow. So, yeah, this is for her. Tomorrow she will turn two and it’s her first time in India. We’re hoping to have a nice time. I am glad to score my century in just my second game at home.”
Congratulations @henrygayle Just Awesome..#SRHvKXIP @IPL 100 runs in 58 balls pic.twitter.com/EMri9dtzRD
— Mohammad shawon (@shawon841) 19 April 2018
So far, there had been four scores of 90’s but no hundred in the IPL. But all of that changed on Thursday as the big West Indian began with a shaky single but rained sixes after settling down. It was Gayle’s knock which powered KXIP to 193/3 and whether it will be a match-winning knock only time will tell.
