Gayle Force Blows Away England In Thumping Win

Gayle Force Blows Away England In Thumping Win

Chris Gayle (left) was smiling broadly after his stunning innings while Kevin Pietersen and his team were unhappy in Barbados.

©REUTERS/Philip Brown (ANTIGUA) Picture Supplied by Action Image

West Indies 117-2 (Gayle 80) beat
England 117 (Bravo 4-19, Edwards 3-28) by eight wickets (D/L)
Scorecard
Third One Day International, Barbados
By Graham Wilson

In terms of overs batted by the side batting second, the West Indies inflicted the third most crushing One Day International win on England, Chris Gayle smashing 80 in 43 balls to hurry them to an eight-wicket success that put them 2-1 ahead of their five-match series.

Gayle's onslaught, which included seven sixes and 24 runs from one Dimitri Mascarenhas over, eased the home side to 117 for two after they had bowled England out for 117.

Duckworth/Lewis adjusted West Indies' target by one run and gave them one less over than England's 45 following some earlier rain and only a torrential downpour of biblical proportions would have saved England, who were expected to put in an improved performance on a pitch that should have suited their batsmen better than the one in Guyana.

At least in Guyana they pushed the West Indies close on occasion. This match was over as a contest within 15 overs when they were reduced to 43 for five as Fidel Edwards (3-28) and Dwayne Bravo (4-19) took advantage of some poor strokes from England but themselves bowled superbly.

They were given superb support by Lionel Baker (1-21), Darren Sammy (none for 19 in nine overs) and Kieron Pollard (2-16). Only Mascarenhas, who made 36 in 73 balls, showed a few signs of resistance while Gareth Batty, at number ten, and Owais Shah, at number four both made 17.

Gayle then took seven more than that from the only over Mascarenhas bowled. His clean hitting left England shell-shocked, and he effectively took 13 runs from one James Anderson delivery when a no-ball and its resultant free hit both disappeared for maximums.

Gayle dominated an opening stand of 98 in just 62 balls, leaving Lendl Simmons unbeaten on 14. Gayle was bowled by Anderson and Ramnaresh Sarwan bowled late on by Stuart Broad for ten, leaving Shivnarine Chanderpaul to hit the winning runs and finish unbeaten on three.

© Cricket World 2009

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