Watch: Chris Gayle’s stint as a replacement cricketer with Royal Challengers Bangalore got off to a flying start with a brilliant hundred, aided by a bit of help from Virat Kohli.

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Gayle had been with the Kolkata Knight Riders initially, but after two less-than-convincing seasons with them, was released from the setup. He went unsold in the 2011 IPL auction. Luck favoured Gayle, though, as Dirk Nannes was injured in the RCB squad and they sought him as a replacement player.

In his first game for Bangalore against his former franchise, Gayle lit up the stage with a fiery hundred in a 172-run chase. He had raced to 97 in 51 balls by the end of the 16th over with RCB needing just 13 from 24 balls. Kohli hit boundaries off the first ball of the next two overs and took the equation down to three runs needed off 17 balls. He then smiled sheepishly at Gayle, realising he was just two runs away from a century.

With Gayle on 98, Kohli played out four dots on the trot off Iqbal Abdullah, not even aiming to score, so that Gayle could get to his hundred next over. A wide from Abdullah got the equation down to two runs needed from the last two overs. Gayle then hit a boundary on the first ball of the 19th over to complete a win for RCB and his maiden hundred in the IPL.

He ended the season with 608 runs at an average of 67.55 and a mind-blowing strike rate of 183.13, including another hundred. The rise of the Gayle phenomenon in the IPL began there. As it stands, he has 4800-plus runs with six hundreds in the tournament.

Not bad for a replacement player!

Watch the final moments of Gayle’s maiden hundred in the IPL

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