A big-hitting display from centurion Chris Gayle guided the West Indies to a six-wicket win over England in the opening ICC World Twenty20 group encounter between the two nations in Mumbai this afternoon.
Eoin Morgan's side scored what appeared to be a respectable 182-6 from their 20 overs, but the men from the Caribbean made light work of that victory target thanks to their talisman.
© AFP
The pick of the England batsmen was Joe Root, who contributed 48 runs from 36 balls before he was caught by Jerome Taylor.
Jos Buttler (30), Alex Hales (28) and Morgan (27) also produced useful knocks as England gave themselves a decent total to defend with the ball.
In fact, it appeared that the 2010 champions were on course for a victory when David Willey claimed the wicket of Johnson Charles for a second-ball duck.
However, that only served to see Gayle step up to the plate, and the 36-year-old almost single-handedly dismantled England's bowling attack.
His unbeaten 100 from 48 deliveries contained 11 sixes, which took him above New Zealander Brendon McCullum and to the top of the list for most maximums in T20 international cricket.
Marlon Samuels also added an aggressive 37 off 27 balls earlier in the innings before Gayle took centre stage as the Windies reached 183-4 with just under two overs to spare.
Liam Apicella
