During the 16th match of the 11th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad at Mohali, Kings XI Punjab’s Chris Gayle bludgeoned his sixth IPL hundred. The fact that his hundred came against the best bowling attack in the tournament speaks volumes about his innings.
Continuing on his good form, Gayle opened the batting with Lokesh Rahul. Not wasting many deliveries, Gayle commenced with his business right from the word go. There came a time in his innings when he slowed down a bit but with someone of his stature always covers it up for the dot balls. That is what exactly happened tonight.
Kings XI Punjab had scored 49-0 in the powerplay. Gayle had contributed 29* (16) in the powerplay. At the halfway mark, Punjab’s total had risen to 82-1. Gayle was batting on 40* (31) at this point in time. On the first delivery of the 13th over, Gayle took a single off Chris Jordan to complete his second fifty in two matches.
Gayle, who had welcomed Rashid Khan with a couple of sixes in his first over, hit four consecutive sixes off him in his third over, the 14th of the innings. With the effortless manner that he was playing, it was evident enough that he would end up scoring a century.
On the second over of the penultimate over, Gayle nudged a Siddarth Kaul delivery behind point to register his sixth IPL century, 21st of his overall T20 career. Gayle remained unbeaten till the end, scoring 104* (63) with the help of one four and 11 sixes.
In the process, Gayle has now hit 279 sixes in the IPL, which is the highest by any batsman. The next on the list is Rohit Sharma (179).
Watch how Twitter reacted to Gayle’s sensational innings:
The universe boss smashes the first century of #IPL2018! Congratulations @henrygayle 👏 pic.twitter.com/mjxDBBGVrK
— ICC (@ICC) April 19, 2018
Gayle storm it is, never seen Rashid Khan been clobbered like this. Chris Gayle is a man on a mission. Delight to watch this @lionsdenkxip #KXIPvSRH
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) April 19, 2018
I just wanted to prove myself and to the world to put respect to my name. But I dedicate this ton to my daughter, she will celebrate her birthday tomorrow. – Chris Gayle.
🔥 🔥 🔥
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) April 19, 2018
2011: Chris Gayle went unsold in IPL auction then RCB picked as replacement and he scored century in his first game…
2018: Chris Gayle went unsold in IPL auction then KXIP picked him last minute and he scored century in his second game…
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) April 19, 2018
@henrygayle Universe Boss! Legend!
— Brendon McCullum (@Bazmccullum) April 19, 2018
Meanwhile #RCB Reaction After Watching Chris Gayle 😉😂🙏 #KXIPvSRH pic.twitter.com/F24pS3vJj8
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirrrJadeja) April 19, 2018
WHAT A KNOCK @henrygayle 🔥
— Jason Roy (@JasonRoy20) April 19, 2018
Universe Boss @henrygayle going absolutely berserk… #ipl 🔥🔥🔥
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 19, 2018
The game is so much more fun when @henrygayle is in and firing. Maybe you should pick him late everytime…….
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 19, 2018
If you thought your life was hard, you haven't seen Chris Gayle take a quick single. #KXIPvSRH
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) April 19, 2018
Chris Gayle almost went unsold and Lasith Malinga not picked for IPL 2018, both holding many IPL records and should have been retained or picked. #BringBackMalinga #IPL #Cricket
— Daniel Alexander (@daniel86cricket) April 19, 2018
How good has @henrygayle been tonight?
He brings up his 6th IPL 💯 #UniverseBoss pic.twitter.com/jtVcz1IiZk
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 19, 2018
Yeaaaahhhh boy @henrygayle 💯 👑🔥🔥🔥
— Danielle Wyatt (@Danni_Wyatt) April 19, 2018
Bow down to @henrygayle
🏏— karishma kotak.. (@karishmakotak) April 19, 2018
Well played @henrygayle this is a very very special knock. Exceptional batting. Really played like the universe boss! #KXIPvSRH
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) April 19, 2018
@henrygayle reloaded every bit as dangerous as Version 1.0
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 19, 2018
Chris Gayle has now scored atleast a century for 12 different teams in T20 cricket. Legend!#KXIPvSRH
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) April 19, 2018
Meanwhile Preity Zinta's Reaction To People Who Were Laughing At Her When She Choose To Buy Unsold Chris Gayle. #KXIPvSRH #KXIPvsSRH #SRHvKXIP #UniverseBoss #GayleStorm pic.twitter.com/a4pvjBKu07
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) April 19, 2018
Finally a batsman has taken Rashid khan to the cleaners. Had to be @henrygayle. Monster Hitting from the Universe Boss. Gayle Storm at Mohali #KXIPvSRH
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) April 19, 2018
Chris Gayle is giving this crowd at Mohali a treat. His new franchise home and they are showing him the love. His 6th @IPL century. WOW. Still box office the Universe Boss. #VIVOIPL_2018 💪💪💪.
— ian bishop (@irbishi) April 19, 2018
Most centuries in the Twenty20 format:
21 centuries – CHRIS GAYLE
7 centuries – Michael Klinger / Luke Wright / Brendon McCullum#IPL2018 #KXIPvSRH— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) April 19, 2018
