Chris Gayle believes Evin Lewis has bright future in ODIs

Windies dasher Chris Gayle believes that Evin Lewis, his opening partner, has a bright future in the limited-overs format of cricket. The team from the Caribbean defeated the hosts England by 21 runs in the only T20 International which will be followed by a 5-match ODI series. Lewis scored a magnificent half-century which powered his team to 176 batting first on a rainy day.

After being sent into bat first by England skipper Eoin Morgan, the opening pair of Gayle and Lewis thumped the hosts’ bowlers which helped their team post a challenging total on the board. In reply, England was undone by some brilliant bowling from the visitors and apart from Alex Hales blitz they never looked threatening. Sunil Narine and Carlos Brathwaite unfurled their variations with the ball as the home side fell short by a considerable margin.

Lewis has eased the pressure off me

Gayle praised the attacking prowess of his opening partner and said that enjoyed to watch him from the other end. “I’ve been playing cricket in the CPL [Caribbean Premier League] so came over with a bit of form. We had a hit yesterday [Friday] and I noticed the practice wicket was a bit juicy, the ball coming onto the bat nicely, so it was fantastic to get going,” said the Universal boss during the innings break as per AFP.

“I’m enjoying batting with Evin. He has eased the pressure off me so we can dictate the way we go about it — but he won’t stop! I can slow down a bit but he won’t! “Evin is one to look out for in the future too, especially in ODI [one-day international] cricket,” said Gayle of the swashbuckling batsman.

Evin Lewis came off an excellent form in the shortest format of the game as he had scored 125* against India a few months ago. He backed up that innings with 51 off just 28 deliveries on Saturday.