Chris Gayle and West Indies Defeat England by 8 Wickets
The explosive hitting of Eion Morgan and Luke Wright for England went down the drain when rain played spoilsports for the hosts in their crucial Group D clash at Guyana. England posted a huge total only to see rain come down and wash away their hopes off a comfortable win against the hosts.
The day belonged to the West Indian skipper who not only won the most crucial of tosses but batted well to see his side through. Gayle won the toss and elected to field, and had one eye on the ground, and the other on the clouds. The earlier match between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka was also disrupted by rain, with the Lankans being declared winners on virtue of better run rate. Similarly, Gayle knew that if he bowled first, his side will have the advantage if rain came during their innings.
All the English batsmen, barring skipper Paul Collingwood, scored at a strike rate of over 100, with Eion Morgan and Luke Wright adding 95 runs in less than 10 overs. Morgan top scored with 55 off 35 balls while Wright remained unbeaten at 27-ball 45. The main culprit for the hosts was pacer Ravi Rampaul who went for 52 runs off his 3 overs, achieving the sixth most expensive figures in the history of the shortest version of the game. Darren Sammy, who excelled in his side’s last match against Ireland as an all-rounder, was the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets.
Chasing 192 was always going to be tough for a side but with Chris Gayle back at the helm, the West Indies had less to worry and England had more. Opening with the ever reliable Shivnarine Chanderpaul, both the batsmen blasted the English bowling, scoring as many as 30 runs off the first 14 deliveries. This is where the rain intervened to remove smiles from those in attendance and the match was stopped for a considerable amount of time.
The umpire’s indecisiveness as well as the downpour saw the match reduced to just 6 overs in the second innings, and the hosts were left to score 60 runs from 6 overs. Already 22 runs in their kitty, the hosts batted sensibly to reach the target on the penultimate delivery, becoming the second team after India to be assured of a place in the Super 8. Gayle was the star with the bat, blasting 2 fours and 2 sixes on his way to a 12-ball 25, while Chanderpaul remained unbeaten on 13-ball 15, with Adrian Fletcher on 10-ball 12.
Like it preceding match, the result of both encounters was helped by run, although the England - West Indies clash was being termed as the Big Match. The umpires failed to decide whether to continue the match or give both side a point each. It reminded one of the World Cup final played between Sri Lanka and Australia in 2007, where at one time the umpires told the Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting that his side may have to replay the match the next day, causing as much chaos as one witnessed during this match.
With scattered thunderstorms and showers predicted for the entire run of the event, one feels that no more matches of the Twenty20 World Cup gets disrupted by rain. England's hopes of an opening victory were not only dashed by the Duckworth/Lewis method, the 8 wicket loss leaves them in a very peculiar position. They must win their match against Ireland on Tuesday if they are to qualify for the next stage, the Super 8.
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