IPL 2019: Chris Gayle’s record at Eden Gardens a cause of concern for KKR ahead of KXIP clash

Gayle announced his intentions for the 12th edition of the league when he took the Rajasthan Royals’ bowlers apart in their first match of the season.

Kings XI Punjab’s hard-hitter Chris Gayle will once again look to take the attack to the opposition when his team takes on Kolkata Knight Riders in a blockbuster Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

Kings XI Punjab Chris Gayle looks on during a match. (AFP)

Gayle announced his intentions for the 12th edition of the league when he took the Rajasthan Royals’ bowlers apart in their first match of the season. The veteran West Indian slammed 79 off 48 deliveries which included eight boundaries and four massive sixes.

KKR bowlers will need to be at the top of their game when Gayle takes to the field at the iconic stadium as stats suggest the southpaw enjoys a stunning record at the Eden Gardens.

Eden Gardens is the venue where Chris Gayle has scored his second most number of runs in IPL only behind Bengaluru (1538 runs). Out of the 540 runs that Gayle has scored at this venue, 432 runs have been scored in boundaries (48 fours and 40 sixes) which accounts for 80% of his total runs.

Gayle scores a fifty plus score in every 2.40 inning, the best rate of scoring fifty+ scores for KXIP in IPL among players to have batted in a minimum of 10 innings.

At Eden Gardens, Gayle has seven 30+ scores in 11 innings and it includes an unbeaten century and four half-centuries.

Both KKR and KXIP got off to respective perfect starts in the tournament as Kolkata beat Hyderabad in their opener while Punjab defeat Rajasthan in their curtain-raiser. It will be interesting to see which team loses their first of the season and one would feel that Gayle is definitely going to play a big part in that, one way or the other.