A little-known Johnson Charles scored his maiden half-century while Chris Gayle made an aggressive fifty to help West Indies beat defending champions England by 15 runs in a Super Eights match of the ICC World Twenty20 here today.
Published: Sep 27, 2012, 11:16 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 27, 2012, 11:16 PM (IST)
West Indies had set a target of 180 runs to win © Getty Images
Pallekele: Sep 27, 2012
A little-known Johnson Charles scored his maiden half-century while Chris Gayle made an aggressive fifty to help West Indies beat defending champions England by 15 runs in a Super Eights match of the ICC World Twenty20 here today.
Charles scored a belligerent 84 off just 56 balls with help of 10 well-timed fours and three sixes, while Gayle belted six fours and four sixes en route to a 35-ball 58 to lay the platform for West Indies’ total.
Chasing 180 for win, England stuttered at the start before Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan came together and stitched 107 runs for the fifth wicket in mere 58 balls to almost snatch a win from the jaws of defeat.
But it was not to be as eventually the asking proved to to be too tall for Hales and Morgan, whose efforts went in vain as England finished at 164 for four.
Morgan was the star for England with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 71 runs off just 36 balls with the help of four boundaries and five huge sixes. Hales played the role of a shit-anchor and made well-deserved 68 off 51 balls.
England’s chase got off to a disastrous start as they lost their first two wickets without a run on the board.
Ravi Rampaul (2/37) inflicted the major damage to England, dismissing Craig Kieswetter and Luke Wright in consecutive balls.
Rampaul first dismissed Kieswetter, who looped the second delivery of the innings to Kieron Pollard at point. And then Wright gave a simple catch to Gayle at slips in the next ball to stand in with a chance of registering the first hat-trick of the tournament, which eventually eluded the pacer. (PTI)
Brief Scores: West Indies 179 for 5 in 20 overs (Johnson Charles 61*, Chris Gayle 58) bt England 164 for 4 in 20 overs (Eoin Morgan 71*, Alex Hales 68; Ravi Rampaul 2 for 37) by 15 runs.
Man of the Match: Johnson Charles
ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2012: Match time table with group details
