WELLINGTON, (Reuters) – Chris Gayle continued to dominate the build-up to the World Cup quarter-final between New Zealand and West Indies when captain Jason Holder said a decision on his fitness would be delayed until today.
The opening batsman’s lingering back injury flared up in the latter stages of the first round, forcing him to miss West Indies’ final game against United Arab Emirates, and he had not appeared at training in Wellington all week.
The 35-year-old finally took some throwdowns at the Basin Reserve yesterday and batted in the nets after having undergone a scan and pain-killing injection earlier this week.
“The scan didn’t show anything major so we’ll just see how he pulls up today and make a decision tomorrow morning,” Holder told reporters on Friday.
“We have to give him time. Obviously we’ll see how he goes at practice today.”
Holder refused to be drawn on whether Gayle would play although he said his batting would boost West Indies at the Wellington Regional Stadium tomorrow.
