Gayle smashes 37 in a single over

Chris Gayle smashed 37 runs from one over to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore to a nine-wicket win over Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the Indian Premier League yesterday.

Gayle, who hit 107 off 49 last Friday against Kings XI Punjab, yesterday powered his way to 44 from 16 balls. He hit Prasanth Parameswaran for six, then another six from a no-ball, followed by two fours, two more sixes and a four. Gayle laid the foundations for Bangalore's 126-run chase for victory, with Tillakaratne Dilshan (52 off 31) and Virat Kohli (27) leading them home in 13.1 overs.

Kochi's promising start was arrested by two wickets apiece for Bangalore's captain Daniel Vettori and Sreenath Aravind.

Brendon McCullum (22) and Michael Klinger built a solid 43 together. McCullum was then caught off Vettori, while Klinger (24) was bowled by Gayle and Kochi were in trouble at 73 for four as Vettori dispatched Mahela Jayawardene and A B de Villiers' acrobatics ran out Parthiv Patel for 19.

It slowed the run rate and allowed Aravind to remove Brad Hodge and Raiphi Gomez as Ravindra Jadeja's fighting 23 helped Kochi to 125 – losing two more batsmen in the final over.