The veteran left-hander, who has not played for West Indies in 12 months, hit a sparkling 38-ball 77 – his first half-century in 17 T20 innings – as RCB, sent in at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, raced to 213 for two off their 20 overs.
In reply, Lions made a good fist of it but were restricted to 192 for seven off their 20 overs, with Smith failing at the top of the order with one.
New Zealander Brendon McCullum pummelled 72 from 44 deliveries but lacked support in the top order.
The headlines, however, were all about the sensational Gayle who with 32, six and 22 in his three previous innings in the tournament, entered the game just three shy of the 10 000 run mark.
And he achieved the mark in the fourth over of the innings and in his 290th T20 game when he edged seamer Basil Thampi to third man.
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