Chris Gayle to ABD: Five best knocks for RCB

As time has whizzed by, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s batting has gone from strength to strength, thanks to a few artists who made the art of batting entirely their own. With names like Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and ABD in their ranks, illustrious displays with the willow never hit a dearth.

From double-century partnerships to an insane 175 from Chris Gayle, the Challengers have tumbled countless records to date. When we talk about batting records, the first and foremost that always gets mentioned is Gayle going berserk against Pune Warriors and laying waste to their bowlers.

As we inch closer to the franchise extravaganza, let us take a look at the five highest individual knocks in an innings by a Challenger.

1.    Chris Gayle – 175* vs Pune Warriors, Bengaluru, 2013

If Brendon McCullum’s 158 against RCB was a glimpse of how T20 cricket should be like, Chris Gayle’s blistering 175 battered down all the doors of inhibition about how a T20 God should look like. It was against the Pune Warriors in 2013 where Gayle simply went berserk laying waste to the bowlers. The Universe boss brought out the heavy artillery in the second over of innings before rain put a momentary halt on the game. Ishwar Pandey was the first to be ripped into shreds. The first ball from Pandey was wide outside the off-stump and Gayle smoked it through the covers. The following delivery was regally spanked wide off the cover region. If Ishwar Pandey thought that he had managed a brief reprieve as soon as the game restarted, Gayle was once again back to his intimidating best, smashing him from one corner of the park to the other. No bowler went unscarred as Gayle’s beast mode continued till the very end, hammering a mind-bending 175, the highest score in a T20 match throughout the world that also starred 17 colossal sixes.

2.    AB de Villiers – 133* vs Mumbai Indians, Wankhede, 2015

Despite Gayle’s early departure that filled the Mumbai hearts with joy, they would simply realise that it was Pandora’s Box hidden in plain sight. The next to the crease was the South African biffer, Mr. 360 who was just warming up for the imminent onslaught of the Mumbai bowlers. It took him 9 balls to realise that he wasn’t striking at his usual raucous tempo as he was unbeaten for 3. He got his first boundary of the night with a delightful uplift as he made way for himself quickly and pulled the trigger. The following strike was even better as pranced down the surface and instead of taking the aerial route, comfortably glided the cherry down the legside. Harbhajan Singh was the first bowler of the night to suffer the brunt of ABD’s maximum as he was launched into the stands over the long-on fielder. He stayed in the middle till the end alongside Virat Kohli and help the Challengers to tot up 235.

3.    AB de Villiers – 129* vs Gujarat Lions, Bengaluru, 2015

Another battle of the lions was settled by Mr. 360’s unreserved dominion as he went all guns blazing against Gujarat, perfectly accompanied by Virat Kohli. Chris Gayle’s early departure to Kulkarni brought out the South African striker to the middle. The carnage started against Shivil Kaushik as De Villiers backed deeper into the crease and smashed the ball over the covers for a staggering six. Pravin Tambe was the next man to face the South African’s wrath as the latter first crafted a delightful drive and then swept the veteran spinner for an overwhelming six. Despite things slowing down in the middle, it was the man who picked the prized scalp of Chris Gayle to face ABD’s wrath next. In the third over of Kulkarni, de Villiers whacked 15 runs that starred a six and a couple of fours. The whacking of the Gujarat Lions continued till the very end as De Villiers rode roughshod over them, staying unbeaten for 129 while the Challengers posted a monumental 248.

4.    Chris Gayle – 128* versus Delhi Daredevils, Delhi, 2012

This was a class act from the Universe Boss as he whacked around the Daredevils who has now been rechristened as the Delhi Capitals. As former Sri Lankan all-rounder, Dilshan couldn’t sustain his stay in the middle, Virat Kohli reserved himself the front seat to Gayle’s madness as the daring Devils couldn’t even get themselves settled. It was Varun Aaron who faced Gayle’s initial heat as he was smashed twice to the ropes in the very over that saw Dilshan taking the long walk back to the pavilion. Once the heavy artillery was out, the Caribbean opener was not holding back his blitzkrieg anymore as it rained fours and sixes at Feroz Shah Kotla. By the time he was done, Gayle whacked an unbeaten 128 from just 62 balls, allowing RCB to garner an overwhelming 215 runs.

5.    Chris Gayle – 117 versus Kings XI Punjab, Bengaluru, 2015

This was a collective display of aggression from the Challengers as everyone managed to rack up significant runs for the team with Gayle leading the revolution for RCB with an incredible display of power-hitting. He first combined with Virat Kohli and pumped out the initial phase of his storm where he was just getting warmed up. Once primed, he started firing on all cylinders and the Kings went into a cautious retreat as the Universe Boss blazed the bowlers in an unprecedented illustration of fireworks. He amassed an overwhelming 117 from just 57 balls, starring 7 fours and 12 sixes, catapulting the Challengers to a fine 226.