Rashid Khan continued his domination against Chris Gayle as he dismissed the West Indies dasher for the fifth time in T20 cricket on Wednesday. In the IPL 2021 clash between Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rashid trapped Gayle in front with a leg-break delivery which was going on and hitting the off-stump.
The battle between Gayle and Rashid last just for two deliveries as the latter worked his magic on Chepauk surface. 22-year-old Rashid has now dismissed Gayle twice in the IPL within a span of 29 deliveries. In the T20 cricket, the Afghanistan sensation has picked Gayle's wicket four times in 56 balls.
Rashid has now dismissed Gayle five times in T20 cricket. Only Harbhajan Singh (6) and Dwayne Bravo (7) have dismissed him more on more occasions.
"No doubt he's one of the hard hitters of the ball, he can clear the boundary quite easily. As a bowler, when you are against a batter like him, it's quite difficult to get him out, I'll just try to do the basics best.
"Bowl to him in the right areas. As soon as you miss the line against such kind of a batsman, it's quite easy for them to hit you. You have to be more consistent and that's what I have in my mind for him. There's pressure on you as a bowler because you need to pitch it in the right area," Rashid had said on facing Gayle before the start of the match.
After electing to bat first, Punjab Kings suffered a top-order collapse as they lost KL Rahul (4) and Mayank Agarwal (22) in the PowerPlay itself. Nicholas Pooran (0) and Gayle (15) also failed to leave their mark as the Punjab-based outfit was left reeling at 47/7 by the end of the ninth over.
PBKS have won just one match so far this season while SRH have lost all of their matches. While Punjab introduced two changes, Fabian Allen and Moises Henriques, the Hyderabad franchise decided to include Kane Williamson and Kedar Jadhav in their Playing XI.
"Kane Williamson is in, he replaces Mujeeb (Mujeeb-ur-Rahman). (Abdul) Samad is out with a hamstring pull, Kedar replaces him, Manish (Pandey) misses out as well, replaced by Siddarth Kaul," said SRH skipper David Warner.
