Star West Indian batsman Chris Gayle slammed an unbeaten 100 in 48 balls to register a comfortable six wicket victory against England in their Group 1 match of ICC World T20 at the Wankhede Stadium here tonight.
Advertisement
The 36-year-old, who was opening the batting alongside Johnson Charles for the Windies, hit his century off just 47 balls as Darren Sammy’s side chased down England’s total of 182-6 with 11 balls to spare in Mumbai, finishing on 183-4.
West Indies, who were chasing a challenging target of 183, romped home in 18.1 overs on the back of Gayle’s blistering innings. Gayle was declared Man of the Match for his match-winning contribution.
He added 55 for the second with Marlon Samuels – who played some stunning shots in 37 off 27 balls.
“Before I went out Sulieman said you’re going to “entertain me”, said a beaming Gayle after hitting the third fastest worldwide T20 century. Gayle didn’t get the strike for three overs as the Caribbean side marched to 55/1 in six overs.
After Samuel’s dismissal, Gayle took the full burden on himself and began blasting England’s bowlers all over the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
A late assault by Jos Buttler (30 off 20), aided by skipper Eoin Morgan (27 not out off 14) and Ben Stokes (15 off 7) helped them reach a respectable total.
“We bowled at about 80 or 90 per cent. I don’t think it was outstanding, but I certainly think we bowled with a bit of aggression”. Root featured in a productive 55-run second wicket stand with Alex Hales, who made 28 which featured three successive boundaries off leg-spinner Samuel Badree.
Andre Russell took 2-36 while Dwayne Bravo gave away 17 runs in the last over to finish with 2-41. Their slow duo of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali kept Morgan’s team in the match with relatively economical bowling and a wicket apiece. Jason Roy loves to play attacking but struggled to get into the 20s during the recent tour of South Africa and his poor form continued here despite a promising start.
Advertisement
“The preparation has been really good, it’s all about practising and then doing it in the middle”, Gayle said after his 100 not out took Windies to a comprehensive six-wicket win. The arrival of England’s top Test batsman Root saw the run-rate kept at a healthy eight an over as he hooked Russell for a six and then swung and flicked Carlos Braithwhite’s medium pace for two fours off successive balls.
