Gayle to rethink retirement decision after smashing 162
Despite losing ODI to England, West Indian reaches 10,000-run milestone; Rashid scalps four in five balls
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I just have to work on the body and then maybe you can see a bit more Chris Gayle. Things change quickly. Hopefully, the body can change in the next couple of months.
ST LUCIA: Swashbuckling lefthanded batsman Chris Gayle, who hit 162 off 97 balls against England in a losing cause and in the process smashed the secondhighest score of his ODI career, confessed he might rethink his decision to retire from the format after the World Cup.
Adil Rashid snared four wickets in five balls as England resisted West Indies effort to claim a 29-run win in a high-scoring fourth ODI on Wednesday. Responding to the tourists’ mammoth total of 418 for six — the highest ever in an ODI in the Caribbean — the home side were set on course by a rampaging Gayle.
They remained in the hunt until the 48th over when leg-spinner Rashid, who had taken a fearful hammering in his first four overs, broke an 88-run seventhwicket partnership between Carlos Brathwaite and Ashley Nurse. He then scythed through the tail --- taking the last three wickets in the next four balls --- to finish with figures of five for 85 off his allotted 10 overs. West Indies, who are 1-2 down, will aim to level the series when they play the fifth and final ODI on March 2.
For Gayle, it was his second century of the series, amassing 347 runs from three innings at an average of 115.66 and a strike rate of 120.06. He became the 14th batsman and second from the Caribbean, after Brian Lara, to reach the milestone of 10,000 ODI runs.
“I think this is one of the most entertaining games I have ever played. It was a fantastic game of cricket. I have been playing a lot of T20 cricket so it is always going to be a difficult coming back into 50-over cricket. But eventually, the body gets accustomed to the 50-over format. What is the matter with the body? I am nearly 40. But could I un-retire? We will see. We will take it slowly,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Gayle, as saying.
“I just have to work on the body and then maybe you can see a bit more Chris Gayle. Things change quickly. Hopefully, the body can change in the next couple of months and we can see what happens. To get the 10,000 run milestone is a great feeling. I have done it in T20 as well. It is a fantastic achievement from my point of view. Doing it for West Indies as well, that makes it even more superb,” he continued.
In spite of Gayle’s heroics, West Indies lost the fourth match as they were 29 runs short. Gayle said his side could have won had they played “a bit smarter”.
West Indies’ total of 389 was their highest-ever in ODIs but it will be of little consolation given the final capitulation which saw the last four wickets falling at the same score to leave England with an unbeatable 2-1 lead going into the final fixture. Setting a target for the first time in the series after West Indies captain Jason Holder won the toss, Jos Buttler led the way with a rampaging innings of 150 off just 77 balls with 12 sixes and 13 fours while his captain, Eoin Morgan, reached 103 off 88 deliveries with six sixes and eight fours decorating his innings.
Just a week after the West Indies posted a new record tally of 23 sixes for an ODI innings, England surpassed that number by one, Buttler thrashing Brathwaite for another huge hit over deep midwicket before the big allrounder bowled him with the next delivery in the final over of the innings.
Brief scores
England 418/6 in 50 overs (J Bairstow 56, A Hales 82, E Morgan 103, J Buttler 150; Brathwaite 2/69, Thomas 2/84) bt West Indies 389 in 48 overs (C Gayle 162, D Bravo 61, C Brathwaite 50; M Wood 4/60, A Rashid 5/85) by 29 runs.
CHRIS GAYLE, On his plans