The southpaw’s 47-ball 100, the fastest WT20 century, leaves England in a daze...
The onset of monsoon is still some months away, but Chris Gayle provided Mumbai with a ‘burst’ of a different kind on Wednesday night.
If nothing else, this simple statistic will illustrate 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 48-ball 100 — the century brought up in 47 — ensured the West Indies won its Group 1 opener in emphatic fashion, by six wickets and with 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, Moeen 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.
Surprisingly enough, Gayle was quiet to begin with. In fact, it was Marlon Samuels who turned on the heat by making room and cracking an impressive eight boundaries during his 27-ball 37, virtually relegating Gayle to a spectator.
But, Gayle probably knew his time would come. And, when it did, he was ready to take over.
Wrong tactic
When he hit Adil Rashid for consecutive sixes in the ninth over, both over long-on, Gayle had five maximums on the night. A little later, Stokes thought he would 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 for some special treatment in the 14th over.
Those three consecutive murderous sixes, each bigger than the other, took him past England’s tally of sixes.
Into the 80s, and with the game more or less in the bag, Gayle pulled 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!
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.
oin Morgan stayed there till the end, taking England past the 180-run mark.
The onset of monsoon is still some months away, but Chris Gayle provided Mumbai with a ‘burst’ of a different kind on Wednesday night.
If nothing else, this simple statistic will illustrate 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 48-ball 100 — the century brought up in 47 — ensured the West Indies won its Group 1 opener in emphatic fashion, by six wickets and with 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, Moeen 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.
Surprisingly enough, Gayle was quiet to begin with. In fact, it was Marlon Samuels who turned on the heat by making room and cracking an impressive eight boundaries during his 27-ball 37, virtually relegating Gayle to a spectator.
But, Gayle probably knew his time would come. And, when it did, he was ready to take over.
Wrong tactic
When he hit Adil Rashid for consecutive sixes in the ninth over, both over long-on, Gayle had five maximums on the night. A little later, Stokes thought he would 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 for some special treatment in the 14th over.
Those three consecutive murderous sixes, each bigger than the other, took him past England’s tally of sixes.
Into the 80s, and with the game more or less in the bag, Gayle pulled 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!
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.
oin Morgan stayed there till the end, taking England past the 180-run mark.
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