The spidercam rebate

When Chris Gayle is dismantling your bowling, you want to hold on to the first opportunity he offers. In the third over, bowled by Sandeep Sharma, Gayle mistimed an aerial strike, and George Bailey turned around and hared towards the ball from mid-off. But just as he neared the ball, it swerved away and Bailey's dive wasn't good enough. As if to rub it in, the ball trickled over the rope. A frustrated Bailey could only slam his palm into the ground.

Axar Patel nearly had Gayle off his first delivery after he swung it towards Manan Vohra at deep square leg. But Vohra, moving to his left, clanged what was a sitter. The cameras didn't zoom in on Bailey, but if they had they might have recorded a grimace in place of his usually pleasant smile. Surely you can't drop Gayle twice when he is going like this?

Anureet Singh's bowling figures received an unexpected boost in the fifth over. After Gayle dispatched a short delivery over midwicket for six, Kings XI Punjab's fielders gathered around the umpires and appeared to discuss something. The umpires then checked if the ball had struck the spidercam cables on its flight, and as it had, they signalled dead ball. Anureet made use of the second chance to bowl a yorker which Gayle could only squirt for one. Small mercy.

A Gayle century is invariably followed by a flashy celebration and it was no different this time around. He dropped his bat, leapt up and extended his arms with a roar to boot. Gayle later said he was a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo and hence wanted to celebrate like him.