Chris Gayle lashes Royal Challengers Bangalore to Champions League Twenty20 victory against Somerset

Chris Gayle has powered Royal Challengers Bangalore to a 51-run victory over Somerset in the Champions League Twenty20, lashing 86 off 46 balls as the Indian side posted an imposing 6-206 off their 20 overs.

Daniel Vettori and Sreenath Aravind each then claimed two wickets as Royal Challengers restricted Somerset to 6-155 off their 20 overs.

Somerset dropped Gayle in the second over, two balls after he had hit his first four to get off the mark, and missed two opportunities to run him out two overs later.

Gayle made them pay for their profligacy, after initially moving in sedate fashion to 29 off 25 balls. He hammered Somerset thereafter, moving to 53 off 31 balls, bringing up his half-century with a leg glance off Peter Trego to the boundary, and he seemed certain to post a century when he reached 86 with a six over long-on.

But he was dismissed when he top-edged a pull shot off South African bowler Alfonso Thomas to Arul Suppiah at deep mid-wicket..

Gayle hit four fours and six sixes in his punishing innings.

Somerset were initially unfazed by the prospect of the most daunting run chase of the Champions League Twenty20 to date, Trego and England international Craig Kieswetter giving them a rocket start with 42 runs in 4.1 overs before Kieswetter edged a ball from Vettori to wicketkeeper Arun Karthik.

Trego continued the assault, hitting 22 of 24 runs off the 10th over, bowled by Gayle, and Somerset moved past 100 more rapidly than had Royal Challengers. He moved past 50 as quickly as had Gayle, cutting Vettori for four, off his 31st delivery, but he received little support from his teammates.

Wickets fell regularly at the other end, and the asking rate soared to 16 by the end of the 15th over.

Trego went for a big shot against Raju Bhatkal when the asking rate touched 19 for the first time, but he skied a catch to Vettori at mid-off and Somerset's chance was gone.