Gayle Force – Windies down England in T20 opener

By Keilan Webster

Captain Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo led the dancing as they saluted yet another Chris Gayle hundred. As the West Indies opener beamed from the middle, he celebrated a brutal ton that dealt England a defeat in their first T20 game of the tournament.

‘Master Storm’ created exactly that for England as he crushed a record 11 sixes on his way to becoming the only man to record two World T20 centuries.

The daunting prospect of AB De Villiers and South Africa are up next for Eoin Morgan’s men, who know defeat will leave them on the brink of elimination.

Having lost the toss and been put into bat, Joe Root top scored with 48 as England made a total of 182-6.

The defence started well with David Willey picking up the wicket of Johnson Charles in the first over. Gayle meanwhile was being contained well, facing only 18 of the first 48 deliveries.

Much of England’s success in this tournament will depend on the success of spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, but both were simply blitzed by Gayle’s powerful striking.

Rashid was hammered for two successive maximums as Gayle started to motor. Ben Stokes was also on the receiving end of the batsmen’s brilliance as he ended with figures of 3-0-42-0.

England felt they always had a chance provided they could dismiss the opener, but three sixes in as many balls off Moeen Ali effectively ended the contest in the 14th over.

Gayle cruised to his unbeaten hundred, with Andre Russell happy to milk the singles in order for the opener to reach three figures.

England had never failed to defend a score of more than 180 in T20 matches previously, but it was felt as though their total was never quite enough.

The Three Lions will regret not making the most of a promising platform having reached the 11th over at 92-1. The loss of Alex Hales stalled the innings as The Windies opted to take pace off the ball in order to stem England’s flow.

With big hitters Morgan and Jos Butler at the crease 200 was still a possibility, but when Butler was caught in the deep off Bravo for 30, the task was too much.

Morgan ended with an unbeaten 27 from 14 balls, whilst Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes provided helpful cameos at the death.

182 appeared to be a competitive score, but Gayle made it look like mere child’s play as The West Indies breezed home with 11 balls to spare.