Chris Gayle smashed a brilliant century as Royal Challengers Bangalore raced to 226 for three in their 20 overs against Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Wednesday.Visiting skipper George Bailey was left to rue his decision to field first on winning the toss as Gayle (117, 57b, 7x4, 12x6), along with captain Virat Kohli (32, 30b, 3x4, 1x6) and AB de Villiers (47 not out, 24b, 3x3, 4x6) handed out a merciless hammering to Kings XI.The visitors bowled rather poorly with their spearhead Mitchell Johnson conceding 43 runs in his four overs.Only seamer Anureet Singh, though wicketless, was able to check the marauding RCB batsmen, but others looked pretty ordinary.Gayle set the tone by smashing Johnson for 20 runs in the second over of the innings, but was lucky to be dropped by Bailey in the next by Sandeep Sharma, when on 27 in a total of 28. The seamer was punished for 24 as RCB raced to 45 in three overs.The mayhem continued unabated as Gayle raised his 50 in just 22 deliveries and the hosts knocked 68 runs in the six overs of powerplay. The giant Jamaican went on to complete 3,000 runs in IPL.
The Punjab bowlers wilted under the onslaughts until Sandeep Sharma cleaned up Kohli, but by then the openers had put on 119 in just 11.2 overs.Gayle continued his merry way and soon reached his 14th T20 century off just 46 deliveries, tucking a full toss from Johnson to the fine-leg fence.At the other end, de Villiers did not take long to barge into the batting party with some innovative hitting and Gayle continued with his breathtaking big shots.The pair added 71 runs for the second wicket in a mere 5.4 overs Gayle departed, offering a tame return catch to left-arm spinner Axar Patel.Dinesh Karthik, RCB's most expensive buy this season, lasted just three balls before getting yorked by Sandeep Sharma.Thereafter, with de Villiers helping himself to quick runs in the company of young and cheeky Sarfaraz Khan, the hosts piled up 226 for three.