Published: Mar 17, 2016, 02:07 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 17, 2016, 11:48 AM (IST)
The day belonged to two mavericks in a bid to outperform their opponents and lead their sides to a sizable victory as shown by West Indies’ Chris Gayle and Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, with the night belonging to the former. West Indies were powered on by Gayle’s unbeaten 100 as they achieved a comfortable victory over England in Match No. 15 of the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 (T20) 2016 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Vishal Mehra takes a keen look at why Gayle, could we very well be an irresistible force for the West Indies going ahead. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: England vs West Indies, Match No.15, ICC World T20 2016 at Mumbai
With this performance, the monkey is very well off Gayle’s back, and now he will only grow into a giant of run-making machine in the tournament. Gayle, who last played for the West Indies in the shortest format way back in January 2015 against South Africa, resumed his T20I innings back from where he had left off. His scores in that series read as 77 and 90 respectively, at a phenomenal strike rate of 248.38 and 219.51.
In his come back match for West Indies his score read 100 unbeaten at a strike of just above 208, which included 11 monstrous sixes and 5 fours. This may very well be the last global cricketing event he might headline, and will want to end his run at the very top in style winning the T20 World Cup for the second for the West Indies and himself. FULL CRICKET UPDATES: England vs West Indies, Match No.15, ICC World T20 2016 at Mumbai
West Indies, coming into this tournament only played two T20Is all throughout the year 2016, have an 1:1 ration in wins and losses. In the 24 T20I matches Gayle has played for West Indies in the World T20 platform, he has amassed 907 runs from 24 matches at an astounding strike rate of 147 at an excellent average of 45.35. More than half of his runs have come in winning causes. His average shoots up to 59when WestIndies win, which proves how much his team relies on Gayle to rocket them towards the victory line. Gayle in the T20 World Cup for West Indies has become this unstoppable force.
Gayle has so far hit most sixes (98) in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) till date, surpassing New Zealand legend Brendon McCullum, who previously held the record with 91 sixes. Gayle (14) did not stop there, he also surpassed McCullum’s (13) feat of scoring most half-centuries in the shortest-format of cricket. Given the fact that West Indies, will have to face in-form South Africa and defending champions Sri Lanka in coming matches it only become impeccably important essential for Gayle to be at his cantankerous best with the bat.
West Indies next face Sri Lanka in Match No.21 of the World T20 2016 at Gayle’s home in India — Bengaluru — where he plays for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Gayle has been phenomenal at Chinnaswamy Stadium and with shorter boundaries compared to Wankhede, he should not find any difficulties in clearing the ropes. A win against a wounded Sri Lankan side will take West Indies one step closer to the semi-final stage and Gayle will surely be ready and upbeat come March 20th. He will look to unleash his universe of stoke playing to everyone’s pleasure.
(Vishal Mehra is a reporter at CricketCountry, who enjoys his weekly dose of anime, and plays cricket once a white moon. His twitter handle is @vishal_oxyjinn.)
