Gayle storm blows away England
Chris Gayle sent a message to the rest of the World Twenty20
participants as he blew away England with a 48-ball 100, peppered with
11 sixes, as he helped West Indies make short work of England's total of
182 for six.
Chris Gayle in his element...
The onset of monsoon is still some months away, but Chris Gayle provided
Mumbai with a ‘burst’ of a different kind on a floodlit Wednesday
evening. If nothing, this simple piece of statistic would define the
kind of carnage that was on display at the Wankhede — England smashed
nine sixes; Gayle trumped them with a mind-numbing 11 of his own. Quite
fittingly, his 47-ball 100 ensured the West Indies won its Group 1
opener in emphatic fashion by six wickets and with as many as 11
deliveries to spare.
As is his wont, Gayle made the 183-run target look like child’s play.
And the England attack? David Willey, Reece Topley, Ben Stokes, Ali… he
spared none of them, repeatedly depositing their offerings to the far
corners of the ground and, at times, attempting to even clear the railed
roof. The 10 wides that England conceded didn’t help its cause either.
A quiet start
Surprisingly enough, Gayle was quiet to begin with. In fact, it was
Marlon Samuels who turned on the style by making room and cracking an
impressive eight boundaries during his 27-ball 37, virtually relegating
Gayle to spectator status. But Gayle probably knew his time would come.
And, when it did, he was ready to take over.
By the time he hit Adil Rashid for consecutive sixes in the ninth over,
both over long-on, Gayle had got five maximums on the night. A little
later, Ben Stokes thought he’d intimidate the intimidator with some
short-pitched stuff. Big mistake! Gayle plundered him over deep
square-leg. Twice over!
It was now time for the sucker punch. Barely interested in running the
ones and twos and seldom distracted by the fall of wickets — Johnson
Charles, Samuels, Denesh Ramdin and Dwayne Bravo all got carried away —
Gayle singled out Moeen Ali for some special treatment in the 14th over.
Those three consecutive murderous sixes, one huger than the other, took
him past England’s tally of sixes. Just like that.
Into the 80s, and with the game more or less in the bag, Gayle then
pulled David Willey for his 11th of the night. With 15 needed and more
than four overs to go, he chose to calm down. Save for that warrior-like
celebration upon reaching his hundred, the remainder of the evening was
rather uneventful!
Chris Gayle: Runs -100; Strike rate - 208.33; Balls/boundary - 3, Scoring shots (%) - 62.5
.@henrygayle murdered the English bowlers. See how he fared against each of them #WT20 #WIvsENG #WorldBoss pic.twitter.com/ZKnykHZYCy— Sportstar (@sportstarweb) March 16, 2016
In the first half of the game, England threatened to go into overdrive
on several occasions, but the West Indies always found a way to pull
things back. But, in the end, a string of handy cameos meant England had
enough to bowl at. Or maybe not.
Joe Root (48) was the glue that held England together. His 36-ball stay
was as lively as it was assuring, but he fell at a rather inopportune
time. Batting at No. 4, Jos Buttler justified his promotion with a
breezy 30. On his part, skipper Eoin Morgan stayed there till the end,
taking England past the 180-run mark with a 14-ball 27. England would
have expected opener Alex Hales to do better than he did. Save a
hat-trick of boundaries he collected off leg-spinner Samuel Badree,
Hales never got going. He consumed 26 deliveries for just 28, but that
was thanks mainly to Jerome Taylor and Badree who gave away just five
runs off the first two overs.
Both teams went in with two spinners, with the West Indies leaving Test
and ODI skipper Jason Holder out. In the end, though, it was all about
the Gayle show!
Chris Gayle hit the fastest century in World Twenty20 cricket as West
Indies thumped England by six wickets in their Group 1 match on
Wednesday.
Gayle took 47 balls to complete his century with five fours and 11 sixes
and in his unbeaten 100 to better his own record of a 50—ball hundred
in the 2007 tournament in South Africa.
Marlon Samuels set the tone by hitting eight fours in his 37 before
Gayle’s brutal hitting took West Indies to 183—4 in 18.1 overs in reply
to what earlier appeared to be a competitive England total of 182—6.
After being put in to bat, Joe Root top—scored with 48 off 36 balls and
Jos Buttler hit three sixes in a cameo of 30 runs to lift England’s
total
West Indies captain Darren Sammy won the toss and opted to bowl in their
World T20 group league cricket match against England in Mumbai today.
The Teams:
West Indies: Darren Sammy (capt), Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles,
Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Andre Russell, Carlos
Brathwaite, Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Jerome Taylor.
England: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Jos Buttler,
Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Chris
Jordan, Reece Topley.
ENG 182/6 (20.0 Ovs)
WI 183/4 (18.1 Ovs)
West Indies won by 6 wkts
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