Home»
News»
Men's News»
Gayle encouraged by warm-up victory

Chris Gayle top-scored for West Indies with 65 not out in their ICC World T20 warm-up win over Afghanistan on Monday. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Gayle encouraged by warm-up victory

West Indies opener not concerned by lack of runs heading into the tournament

18 September 2012 - 03:43pm IST

West Indies opener Chris Gayle was pleased with his team’s performance in their eight-wicket win over Afghanistan in Colombo on Monday.

The men from the Caribbean restricted their opponent to 122-7 and then knocked the runs off with 25 balls to spare, Gayle leading the charge with 65 not out off 48 balls.

“It was a decent pitch to bat on so credit must go to the bowlers for the way they went out and restricted Afghanistan for 122, and that helped us to finish off strongly with the bat. I’m really happy with that,” Gayle said.

The left-hander was the only West Indian to score more than 15 but he is not concerned by the lack of runs heading into the tournament.“Down here you get good pitches to bat on - I think we stuck to the task well against Afghanistan. We didn’t get off to a flyer when we batted, we lost Smithy (Dwayne Smith) so I had to build a partnership with young Johnno (Johnson Charles) and he played well. When he got out Marlon came in and we finished off well. A lot of guys didn’t get a hit, but they are preparing mentally for the first match.”

Although defeat would not be terminal, Gayle has stressed the importance of victory in his side’s opening ICC World T20 match against Australia on Saturday.

“The main challenge is going to be the first match with the Aussies,” Gayle said. “If we get past Australia we should know where we’re at. Even if that doesn’t happen we have to make sure we qualify and that would make the game against Ireland vital for us - they have upset a lot of big teams so we have to be very mindful of that."

WisdenPowered by