Kings XI Punjab bowler, Murugan Ashwin, has hailed the energy brought back to the team by returning T20 star Chris Gayle, in an 8 wicket win over Royal Challenger Bangalore on Thursday.

Gayle smacked an enterprising 53 from 45 balls, a total that included five big sixes, as KXIP snapped a five-game losing streak for only the team’s second win of the season.

Surprisingly, prior to this point, Gayle has been a spectator with Punjab losing six of its first seven games.  The batsman had been tipped to return to the line-up last week but suffered from a case of food poisoning.

Last season, Gayle was the team’s second-highest runs-scorer with 490, with a high score of 99 and an average of 40.83.

  "It is good to get a win. Chris coming back to the side gives a lot of energy to the team. The mood in the camp was always high even we were losing,” Ashwin told. Indiatvnews.

“We did not lose our spirit; we know that we are playing good cricket and it is just getting over the line. Really happy that we won a game and it is about repeating it game after game," he added.

Ashwin ended with figures of 2 for 23.  KXIP will next play Mumbai Indians on Sunday, but firmly lodged at the bottom of the standings will have their work cut out to get to the playoffs.