T20 World Cup 2016, West Indies Vs England Played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India.
West Indies 183/4 ( CH Gayle 100* , MN Samuels 37,AD Russel 16* ) beat England 182/6 (JE Root 48,JC Butler 30, AD Russel 2/36, DJ Bravo 2/41 ) by 6 wickets
Player of The Match: CH Gayle
Master blaster CH Gayle throttled into top gear smashing 11 towering sixes and five blistering fours in unbeaten 100 off 48 deliveries .West Indies launched their 2016 T 20 world cup campaign in emphatic style sweeping away English challenge by 6 wickets. It was second T20 world cup century of the Caribbean superstar, the only person doing it. When in mood he smashes records after record.
No bowling in the world can stop him. The helpless English bowlers could only watch and see the phenomenon in action. West Indies earlier chose to field in anticipation of dew factor . England went on reaching 182/6 which on the easy paced surface was per score .But when Gayle storm hailed it proved inadequate.
The entertainer thrilled the Mumbai cricket with yet another superb batting display when 86 off his 100 runs came in boundaries .He hates to run in singles.
England did not do all that bad while batting. But after the match it appeared they were at least 20 runs short taking into consideration Gayle and dew factor. Top six English batsmen had start but only Root and Butler could get going .They too failed to go on and produce innings long enough to challenge the very strong West Indies batting line up.
Root scored 48 off 36 and Buttler 30 from 20 deliveries .Both got out in efforts of forcing the pace. A score of 200 could create greater challenge .But who knows perhaps that also could prove too less for Gayle to overwhelm. Russel (2/36) and Bravo (2/41) restricted England to a manageable score of 182/6.
England struck early when Willey removed Charles on the second ball of West Indies reply. But on the other end Gayle was in his smashing mood. However, in the early stage of his innings he saw his partner Samuels outscoring him in the 55 runs second wicket partnership. Samuels struck 8 fours in his 27 balls 37. But once he departed it was all Gayle show.
Whatever young English bowlers threw at him were being dispatched all over the park. Gayle consumes very little of his energy in running singles .It is usually stand and deliver type of stuff . He broke his own record of striking over boundaries in one innings .This time it was 11 in his unfinished innings .He also stuck 5 boundaries .It was entertaining exhibition of power hitting. West Indies overwhelmed England set target with 11 balls to spare.
One cannot say England did all that bad. But when a champion batsman Gayle chooses to pick a match to display his wonderful array of stroke play opponents can only watch and applaud. Caribbean looks a formidable side ready to go deeper in the tournament .Players like Gayle is a true entertainer. Crowd had their money’s worth. His innings win applaud from even the partisan crowd. When Gayle in such mood no bowlers can restrict, no ground proves large enough. He is a sheer magic.
BDST: 1145 HRS, MAR 17, 2016
AKA
