CANBERRA, Australia, CMC – Chris Gayle smashed the first double century in a World Cup and the fastest ever in one-dayers, as West Indies pivoted on a record-breaking batting effort to beat Zimbabwe by 73 runs and post their second straight win of the global showpiece here yesterday.
Opting to bat first at Manuka Oval, West Indies powered their way to 372 for two off 50 overs – their highest ever ODI total – with the left-handed Gayle fashioning an extraordinary career-best 215 off 147 deliveries.
Vice-captain Marlon Samuels joined Gayle in the run fiesta, carving out an unbeaten 133, to help the Windies to the fifth highest total in World Cup history.
The pair blossomed from an uncertain start to unleash a furious assault on the Zimbabwe attack in a phenomenal second wicket stand of 372 – an all-time record for any wicket in One-Day Internationals.
The stand shattered the 331 set by Indian legends Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar against New Zealand, 16 years ago in Hyderabad
Fast bowlers Jerome Taylor and Jason Holder then snatched three wickets piece as Zimbabwe put up a spirited response before they were bowled out for 289 off 44.3 overs.
Taylor finished with three for 38 and captain Holder, three for 48, thwarting the African nation’s pursuit of a revised target of 363 from 48 overs, following a rain stoppage early in the innings.
Gayle, predictably voted Man-of-the-Match, weighed in with two for 35 with his off-spin.
Sean Williams led Zimbabwe’s charge, top scoring with 76 off 61 balls while Craig Ervine struck an equally gallant 52 off 41 deliveries.
Brendan Taylor chimed in with 37 and Sikandar Raza got 26, but once Zimbabwe began to lose wickets, the run chase became derailed.
The victory lifted West Indies to four points in Group B, only second to reigning champions India on net run rate, while Zimbabwe slumped to fifth following their second loss in three outings.
Heading into Tuesday’s contest still pumped up from their 150-run thumping of Pakistan in Christchurch, West Indies were handed a dose of reality when they lost Dwayne Smith to the second ball of the innings without a run on the board, bowled by seamer Tinashe Panyangara by one that nipped back and kept a trifle low.
Samuels nearly played on to the next ball, inside edging past his stumps to get a single to fine leg and the turning point of the game came off the very next delivery when Gayle narrowly survived a very close lbw review.
He missed one from Panyangara which pitched in line and hit him below the knee roll as he prodded forward hesitantly but was given not out. Reviews showed the ball barely clipping the top of the bails and the decision stood.
Capitalising on his good fortune, the 35-year-old showman then took centre stage.
Overall, he counted ten fours and an incredible 16 sixes, en route to a double century off a mere 138 deliveries, becoming only the fourth batsman to score an ODI double and the first non-Indian.
The innings – Gayle’s 22nd one-day hundred – was also the third highest in ODIs behind Rohit Sharma’s 264 last year against Sri Lanka and Virender Sehwag’s 219 against West Indies four years ago.
Gayle also broke South African Gary Kirsten’s 19-year-old record for the highest score in a World Cup match – 189 not out against United Arab Emirates in Rawalpindi – and surpassed his previous career-best of 153.
Along the way, he passed 9 000 ODI runs but more importantly, ended a slump that had left him without an ODI hundred for 20 months and burdened with an average of 14.9 during that period.
Samuels was reduced to a virtual spectator, despite chalking up his ninth ODI century in a career-best effort.
He faced 156 balls and hit 11 fours and three sixes.
Gayle’s innings was a tale of two parts. He raised his first hundred off 105 balls but required only 33 more deliveries to complete his double – reaching the mark two balls faster than Sehwag’s previous record.
While he struggled with his timing, West Indies drifted along at 83 for one in the 18th over but once he stepped up a gear, the scoring accelerated.
He reached fifty off 51 balls and then motored on with two successive sixes back overhead off leg-spinner Tafadzwa Kamungozi, to move into the 70s.
He joined Brian Lara as the only other West Indian in the 9 000-run club when he reached 79 and despite reaching 90 off 84 balls, he then spent 20 deliveries over the next ten runs before a single down the ground off medium pacer Hamilton Masakadza saw him reach three figures.
With the landmark out of the way, Gayle exploded. Nearly single-handedly, he took 21 from Kamungozi’s third over, the 44th over of the innings and then clobbered left-arm spinner Williams for three straight sixes in the next over which also leaked 21 runs.
He cleared mid-wicket with pacer Tendai Chatara in the 46th over to move to 196 and then whacked a full toss to the cover ropes a couple balls later, to become the first player in history with an ODI double, Twenty20 International hundred and Test triple century.
A silent but effective partner throughout, Samuels reached his 26th ODI half-century off 95 balls and topped three figures off 143 balls, with a boundary to fine leg off Chatara in the 48th over.
He opened his shoulders to blast 22 runs from the penultimate over bowled by Panyangara as West Indies extracted 152 runs from the last ten overs.
Gayle eventually perished off the last ball of the innings, slicing a catch to point.
West Indies then pressed home their advantage when Holder and Taylor gained lbw verdicts against Regis Chakabva (2) and Masakadza (5), leaving Zimbabwe 26 for two in the fifth over.
When opener Sikander Raza punched Holder uppishly to Lendl Simmons at third man in the eighth over, Zimbabwe were in danger of collapse at 46 for three but three successive cameo partnerships frustrated West Indies.
Williams, who hit nine fours, put on 80 off 73 deliveries for the fourth wicket with Taylor, before posting a further 51 for the fifth wicket with Ervine whose breezy innings contained seven fours and a six.
Holder returned to have Williams caught by Smith at forward square in the 28th over and a 49-run, fifth wicket stand off 35 balls between Ervine and Stuart Matsikenyeri (19) more served to entertain than threaten, as Windies sealed the points.
SCOREBOARD
WEST INDIES
D Smith b Panyangara 0
C Gayle c Chigumbura b Masakadza 215
M Samuels not out 133
Extras (b1, lb2, w16, nb5) 24
TOTAL (2 wkts, 50 overs) 372
Did not bat: J Carter, +D Ramdin, L Simmons, D Sammy, A Russell, *J Holder, J Taylor, N Miller.
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Smith, 0.2 overs), 2-372 (Gayle, 50)
Bowling: Panyangara 9-0-82-1 (w4, nb2), Chatara 9.4-0-74-0, Williams 5-0-48-0, Chigumbura 7-0-44-0, Sikandar Raza 10-1-45-0, Kamungozi 3-0-37-0, Masakadza 6.2-0-39-1.
ZIMBABWE
Sikandar Raza c Simmons b Holder 26
R Chakabva lbw b Holder 2
H Masakadza lbw b Taylor 5
+B Taylor c wkp Ramdin b Samuels 37
S Williams c Smith b Holder 76
C Ervine b Gayle 52
S Matsikenyeri lbw b Gayle 19
*E Chigumbura c Gayle b Taylor 21
T Panyangara c wkp Ramdin b Taylor 4
T Chatara b Miller 16
T Kamungozi not out 6
Extras (lb9, w14, nb2) 25
TOTAL (all out, 44.3 overs) 289
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Chakabva, 1.4 overs), 2-26 (Masakadza, 5), 3-46 (Sikandar Raza, 8), 4-126 (Taylor, 20.1), 5-177 (Williams, 27.5), 6-226 (Ervine, 33.4), 7-239 (Matsikenyeri, 35.4), 8-254 (Panyangara, 38.1), 9-266 (Chigumbura, 40.5), 10-289 (Chatara, 44.3)
Bowling: Taylor 10-0-38-3 (w5), Holder 7-0-48-3 (w1), Miller 6.3-0-48-1 (w2), Samuels 9-0-59-1, Russell 5-0-44-0 (w2, nb2), Sammy 1-0-8-0, Gayle 6-0-35-2.
Result: West Indies won by 73 runs.
Points: West Indies 2, Zimbabwe 0.
Man-of-the-Match: Chris Gayle.
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: Steve Davis, Ian Gould; TV – Ranmore Martinesz