He was stifled by slower balls, tucked up by short ones and undone by a straight one by which time Royal Challengers were well on their way to losing the game
Alagappan Muthu in Bangalore19-Apr-2015Chris Gayle was 6 off 18 balls at the end of the Powerplay chasing 210. He had been dropped once, would be dropped again, but when he ran and swung blindly outside the line of a relatively straight and flat delivery, he trudged back to the pavilion with 10 to his name. Off 24 balls. At a strike rate of 41.66.And yet it began in much the same template as any of his innings. The shadow practice in the middle of the pitch. A leave outside off, the bat whisked inside the line of the ball, which was then free to thud into the keeper’s gloves. Mitchell McClenaghan liked the carry, and that Gayle wasn’t keen on the shortish length. Full speed ahead.Two bouncers came on cue. One was not bothered with. The other beat Gayle for pace. Neither ball was legal according to the umpire, but it didn’t matter to Mumbai Indians. They knew it was a chink in Gayle’s armour. They knew it has been exploited before, especially by quick bowlers who can will the ball up to his ribs. Tucking him up so that he doesn’t have the room to unfurl his powerful hands through the ball. The eye of the Gayle storm, and Mumbai’s bowlers had found a way to make that their home.As ever Lasith Malinga was the lynchpin. He doesn’t have the pace he used to, and on occasion can be lined up. Gayle is a stand and deliver kind of batsman and his success depends on being able to read a bowler. That tends to get a smidge harder with a slingy action and terrifically disguised slower balls. The contest began with a maiden – five balls off pace, one of them beating Gayle’s lead-footed flailing cut, and one stinging leg-stump yorker. There were two more balls for the blockhole, both only barely handled, and finally the slower ball to finish. Gayle was able to take only two runs off Malinga.No pace to work with. Nothing to get underneath for leverage. No longer quick on the pull, not against balls on leg stump and rising above his stomach. He is too rigid as opposed to still and balanced when he times the ball. He doesn’t flow into the shot. Those big, burly shoulders can’t get moving. The best Gayle can do is nurdle and try to get off strike but midwicket and mid-on do not allow him the luxury. Nor does that notorious back.It has been eight overs and he has been unable to cope. His greatest weapon – power – has been negated by the lack of balls in his half of the pitch. Thirteen of his 24 balls were short or shortish. He wrangled three runs from them. As cool as Gayle seems, he was neck deep in hot water. Something had to give. And it would be the off stump. He was walking back for 10 runs. Off 24 balls.For context, AB de Villiers faced less than half as many and came away with 41 runs to his name – 11 deliveries, eight of them banished to the boundary. There was only one dot ball in the mix. Rohit Sharma faced 15 and sent seven of them to the ropes.Keeping batsmen quiet in T20 is no mean feat. Keeping a batsman like Gayle quiet in T20 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium is like walking on a tightrope across two skyscrapers with greasy feet. You are bound to slip. But Mumbai just did not. At least, not until de Villiers went on a rampage.Royal Challengers had gone into this game with one hand behind their back and the other pumped full of performance enhancers. All four overseas players were batsmen, leaving the bowling attack under the care of Varun Aaron, who has never played an T20 international, David Wiese, who is more a batting allrounder, two uncapped spinners and one uncapped medium pacer. And they had stuck this motley crew into the fire by opting to field. Virat Kohli was gambling here. But one thing he would never have seen coming was this Gayle innings.
