MUMBAI, India, CMC – Superstar Chris Gayle smashed the third fastest hundred in Twenty20 Internationals as West Indies started their T20 World Cup campaign with an emphatic six-wicket victory over England here yesterday.
Chasing a formidable 183 for victory at the Wankhede Stadium, West Indies romped to their target with 11 balls remaining, with Gayle producing yet another scintillating display in carving out 100 not out off just 48 deliveries.
The giant left-hander struck five fours and 11 towering sixes to post three figures off 47 balls, registering his second T20 International hundred and becoming the first batsman to score two T20 World Cup centuries.
He also eclipsed New Zealander Brendon McCullum’s record of 91 for the most sixes hit in T20 Internationals, setting a new mark of 98.
West Indies lost Johnson Charles to the second ball of the innings without scoring with the score on two but Gayle anchored three partnerships to ensure a successful recovery.
He put on 55 off 44 balls for the second wicket with Marlon Samuels whose dazzling 37 required 27 balls and included eight fours.
Gayle then added a further a 43 for the third wicket with Denesh Ramdin (12) and when West Indies lost two wickets in successive overs to be 113 for four in the 13th over, he combined with Andre Russell in an unbroken fifth wicket stand of 70 off 35 balls, to see the Caribbean side home.
Russell stroked a run-a-ball 16 with two fours.
Earlier, Joe Root top-scored with 48 from 36 balls while wicketkeeper Jos Buttler got 30 from 20 and opener Alex Hales, 28 from 26, as England got up to an acceptable 182 for six after they were sent in.
Hales and Jason Roy (15) put on 37 off 27 balls for the first wicket before the right-handed Roy jabbed medium pacer Russell (2-36) to Samuel Badree to a shortish mid-wicket.
England then flourished through a 55-run, second-wicket partnership between Hales and Root, that left the innings well poised at 81 for one at the half-way stage.
Hales struck four fours while Root counted three fours and two sixes before both fell within 19 balls of each other to leave England on 114 for three in the 15th over.
The right-handed Hales missed a full length delivery from left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn and had his off-stump rattled in the 12th over while Root tried to go over the top with Russell but only managed to hole out to Jerome Taylor at mid-off.
Buttler, who struck three sixes and captain Eoin Morgan, who stroked a cameo unbeaten 27 from 14 balls, then gave the innings a strong finish.
The pair put on a busy 38 for the fourth wicket and when Buttler whacked medium pacer Dwayne Bravo (2-41) to Carlos Brathwaite on the ropes at mid-wicket, Ben Stokes entered to belt two fours and a six in a seven-ball 15.
England’s hopes were then raised when Charles senselessly dragged left-arm seamer David Willey to Moeen Ali in at a short mid-wicket.
Samuels then took command of the innings, however, reducing Gayle to the role of a spectator as he flayed the England bowlers to all parts of the field.
Surviving close lbw shouts off the first two balls he faced, Samuels then went on the attack with a couple of fours off Willey’s next over and another three of pacer Stokes’ first, which leaked 14 runs.
He fell against the run of play, holing out to long on in leg-spinner Adil Rashid’s first over – the seventh of the innings.
His dismissal paved the way for the Gayle blitzkrieg. The 36-year-old had earlier given warning when he thumped Reece Topley – another left-arm seamer – for a four and a six in the second over and he stepped into overdrive now.
His half-century came off 27 deliveries but the second fifty was even more devastating, requiring only 20 balls.
He blasted Rashid for two huge consecutive sixes over wide long on in the ninth over which cost 16 runs and followed up by swinging two successive short balls from Stokes over the ropes at deep square leg, as the 11th over went for 18 runs.
With his half-century behind him, he lost Ramdin top-edgeing a slog sweep at Rashid to be caught by Moeen Ali at short fine leg in the 12th over and then Bravo, who lofted a full toss from Topley to Hales at deep mid-wicket to perish for two seven balls later.
Amidst the Gayle carnage, their dismissals almost went unnoticed.
Now in full flight, Gayle made perhaps his biggest statement when he lofted off-spinner Moeen Ali down the ground for sixes off the last three balls of the 14th over which gushed 22 runs.
He moved into the 90s in style, smashing Willey for a four and two sixes in the 16th over which went for 18 runs, and a single to long on off the first ball of the 18th over, saw him to three figures.
West Indies face Sri Lanka in their next game on Sunday in Bangalore.
