http://www.senore.com/Cricket/CH-Gayle-c1221, Adam Gilchrist and Sachin Tendulkar: Centuries in the 4th Season of the IPL – Part 2
While http://www.senore.com/Cricket/V-Sehwag-c2739 scored the highest knocks in the tournament with their respective 120 run and 119 run knocks, to say they were the most exciting or entertaining would be unfair to other centurions in the event.
In fact, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Tendulkar-c2556’s century was another feather in the veteran batsman’s cap.
Chris Gayle’s 107 runs and 102* runs
Chris Gayle was embroiled in controversy when he opted to play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL instead of his national side against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, but upon his arrival to the T20 tournament, the batsman made his presence more than felt when he
thumped his way to a 102 run unbeaten century of just 55 deliveries.
The demolition of the Kolkata Knight Riders was made worse for the opposition as they were playing in front of their home fans in Kolkata. Gayle was merciless as he smashed 10 fours and an astounding seven sixes in the blistering knock to guide his side
to what was ultimately an easy victory.
His second century came just two weeks later as Gayle continued to dominate the IPL and made himself an instant superstar despite joining the tournament later than most players, when he bettered his 102 run innings with a 107 run knock. What made the second
century better than the first was the fact that it came in fewer deliveries as well. It took Gayle 49 deliveries to reach the score as opposed to the 55 deliveries for the earlier one.
The Kings XI Punjab were watching the ball fly past them regularly as Gayle hammered away 10 boundaries and had the home crowd in the stadium ducking for cover on nine occasions as he sent the ball flying to the stands for nine massive sixes. His strike
rate of 218.36 was also the highest for any century in the IPL’s current season.
Sachin Tendulkar’s unbeaten 100
Just to show that T20 is not all about aggression and rash hitting, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Chinnadupargea-Sachin-c50607 Tendulkar demonstrated that a balance of fine textbook stroke play was also a formula for success on the bite sized format as he played his way to a 100 runs not out against the Kochi
Tuskers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kerala-c803 in Mumbai.
Tendulkar earned even more love and respect when he reached his century in 66 deliveries in front of an adoring http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 public. The little maestro timed, cut and pulled deliveries and sent them to the boundary for four on 12 occasions and dispatched the extremely
poor deliveries for three sixes before the day was done.
What made Tendulkar’s innings a joy to watch was that the batsman demonstrated that no matter what the format, it is cricket that is the star and any style can be effective on any format.
Adam Gilchrist’s 106 runs
The latest member to join the centurion club for the season, Adam Gilchrist was having a poor run with the bat, before all that changed when he destroyed the Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling attack as he blasted his way to a 106 runs from 55 deliveries.
Gilchrist seemed to have been saving the special performance for when his side needed it most, as his eight fours and nine humongous sixes kept the Kings XI http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Punjab-c833’s slim chances of qualifying for the semi-finals alive. Captain of his side, Gilchrist stepped
up when his side needed him most in a Gung-Ho performance that will be on the highlight reels for some time to come.
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