India vs West Indies: Chris Gayle scores first fifty against Men in Blue in more than 10 years

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Updated: Aug 15, 2019 08:22 IST

Team India completed a limited-overs series whitewash against the West Indies when they defeated the hosts by 6 wickets in the third ODI at Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain. With that win, India claimed the three-match ODI series 2-0 after winning all the T20 internationals earlier. It has been a dominant performance by Virat Kohli and Co as they completely outplayed the Windies in all departments of the game.

However the start of the match was not in India’s favour as Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis were smashing the bowlers all over the park. Gayle was particularly impressive as he looked in vintage touch during his 72-run knock off 41 balls. It helped West Indies post a daunting total of 240 runs in 35 overs in the third ODI. The target for India was revised to 255 in 35 overs according to the DLS method.

Coincidently, this was Gayle’s first fifty against India in more than a decade. The last time Gayle managed to score a half-century against India was on 28th June 2009 when he hit 64 (46 balls) at Kingston.

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It was speculated after his innings in the 3rd One Day International against India at Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain that he might be retiring from the 50-over format. It looked Gayle was getting a send-off from the Indian players after his innings. While walking off, Gayle smiled as Indian players shook hands with him. The Indian players even did Gayle’s typical jig with him.

The West Indian camp gave him a standing ovation as it looked like Gayle might hang up his boots.

However quashing all rumours, Gayle confirmed in an interview after the match that he has not yet retired from ODI cricket.

“I didn’t announce any retirement. Yeah, I am (still with West Indies cricket) until any further notice,” Gayle told West Indies Cricket.

Gayle is the most capped West Indies player of all-time, surpassing Brian Lara. He has competed in 301 matches and even sported the jersey of the same number in the 3rd ODI against India. Gayle has scored 10480 runs with 25 hundred and 54 half-centuries in his ODI career.