England v West Indies World T20 Review: Chris Gayle takes England by storm

Chris Gayle reintroduced himself to the world with a trademark innings and more importantly a match-winning innings that helped the Windies secure a 6 wicket win over England. Gayle’s century makes him only the second player in cricket history to score his second World T20 century. The victory also goes on to prove that the Wankhede wicket is still as good as it once was, a wicket that is perhaps best suited for chasing.

Darren Sammy won the toss and invited his counterpart Eoin Morgan to have a bat first. Despite starting off rather slowly, Alex Hales and Jason Roy cut loose and put the West Indian bowlers to the sword. Roy, in particular, was severe on Jerome Taylor and Samuel Badree as he found the ropes of the boundary, seemingly at will. However, Darren Sammy introduced the much anticipated X-factor – Andre Russell. The move turned out to be a masterstroke as Russell quickly removed Jason Roy with Samuel Badree pulling off a splendid catch. Alex Hales failed to read the wily Suliemann Benn as he was the second Brit to head back to the dugout.

However, despite dismantling the partnership, Joe Root and Jos Buttler took the attack to the West Indies. What followed was a clinical and swashbuckling innings from Joe Root, who took great pride in dispatching the West Indies bowling all over the Wankhede wicket. Despite Andre Russell removing Root soon after, the damage had been well and truly done. Not many would have given Eoin Morgan much of a chance initially, but he succeeded in silencing his critics. He smashed a quick fire 27 off just 14 balls, including a solitary boundary and a massive six Ben Stokes chipped in with a valuable 15 as England closed their innings on a mammoth 182/6 in 20 overs.

Disaster struck early for the Windies as Johnson Charles was snapped up early on by the impressive David Willey. Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle exhibited every ounce of their talent as they began the rebuilding process. Marlon Samuels proved to be the aggressor of the innings as he began to strike a few deliveries to the boundary. Samuels smashed 8 boundaries en route to his 37. After his dismissal courtesy of a flighted delivery from Adil Rashid, it was well and truly the Chris Gayle show.

Also read: Twitter Reactions: Gayle Storm blows away England at the Wankhede

Chris Gayle has that Jamaican swagger about him. Just when it seems as though he has been tied down, he launches one into the stands and it seemingly becomes impossible to put a stop to the ‘Gayle force’. Denesh Ramdin, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell were just passers-by as Chris Gayle stole the show with some magnificent hitting. He smashed 11 sixes at a strike rate excess of 200. Even a pull-up gesture to Darren Sammy a few hundred yards away did justice to the miracle innings he had just played. An inside edge towards fine leg from Andre Russell, saw the Windies pick up their ninth win over England in T20 internationals.

Upon winning the Man of the match award, Chris Gayle said,”The preparation has been really good, it’s all about practising then doing it in the middle. The dew played a part as well. After facing the first over I took a while to get back on strike, but Marlon helped ease the pressure. We wanted to stay ahead of the run-rate, pleased to finish the game and not leave it to anyone else. I was pumped today. Before I went out, Sulieman Benn said ‘entertain me’. The guys who play the IPL know it’s a good wicket so we knew we always had a chance to chase it down. Hopefully we can move onto Sri Lanka now. Bangalore, my home town. Hopefully I can entertain again. The celebration was all about DJ Bravo and his new song.”

Brief Scores

England: 182/6 in 20 overs ( Joe Root 48; Andree Russell 2/36)

West Indies: 183/4 in 18.1 overs (Chris Gayle 100*; Reece Topley 1/22)

Man of the match: Chris Gayle