West Indies batsman Chris Gayle (left) celebrates his century during the Twenty20 World Championship match against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium yesterday. Gayle made a record 117 in a losing effort. - AP JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CMC):
SLIPSHOD CRICKET after Chris Gayle hit the first Twenty20 International hundred condemned West Indies to an eight-wicket defeat to hosts South Africa in the opening match of the Twenty20 World Cup yesterday.
The West Indies bowled loosely and fielded sloppily as they failed to defend a target of 206, after Gayle hit a typically belligerent 117 off 57 balls to be immortalised in Twenty20 history.
The West Indies gave up the ghost with 14 balls to spare when Herschelle Gibbs, whose 90 from 55 balls was the top score for South Africa, lofted Dwayne Bravo for the last of his 14 fours to the long-offboundary.
The West Indies committed two costly errors that allowed Gibbs the comfort of leading the South Africa charge, despite a strained hamstring that meant he required a runner for much of his innings.
Muffed a chance
They gave Gibbs the first of his reprieves when he was 20. The usually safe Bravo tried to be too clever and he muffed a chance when the South African opener essayed an 'inside-out' drive to deep cover off Daren Powell in the seventh over
The match, however, was over as a genuine contest when another reliable West Indies fielder Shivnarine Chanderpaul misjudged his proximity to the boundary rope, and he palmed a skier from Gibbs - on 43 - into the boundary for four in the 12th over.
The West Indies could not lift themselves the rest of the way and Justin Kemp also benefitted from their generosity to make 46 not out from 22 balls and add 120 unbroken - for the third wicket with Gibbs.
Marlon Samuels was the offender in the 13th over, when he dropped Kemp - then 13 - at deep mid-on off Dwayne Smith.
The West Indies had made the breakthrough in the sixth over when South Africa captain Graeme Smith was caught at mid-off off Ravi Rampaul for 28 in the sixth over. Although Powell had struck Smith a painful blow on the left-hand with the first ball of the innings, Smith received treatment on the field and soldiered on to share 54 with Gibbs for the first wicket.
The West Indies would not have had fond memories of the next batsman - Abraham de Villiers. He threatened to run amok in much the same way he did against the same opponents in the (50 overs) World Cup earlier this year in the Caribbean.
Fidel Edwards' pace and control have improved considerably in the past few months and de Villiers top-edged a hook at a well-directed short, rising delivery and he was caught behind for 16 in the ninth over.
At this stage, the match hung in the balance, but the West Indies' greasy-palmed fielders combined with their wayward bowlers, who conceded two dozen wides, effectively killed any hopes of upstaging the South Africans as happened in the corresponding match of the (50 overs) World Cup at the same venue four years ago.
WORLD RECORD
Earlier, Gayle smashed seven fours and a world record 10 sixes to set the tempo as he shared a record 145 for the first wicket with fellow left-handed opener Devon Smith. The stand eclipsed the mark of 132 unbroken set by Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman against Pakistan at the same venue earlier this year.
The two West Indies openers did well to repel the South African attack until the 14th over when Devon Smith was eventually caught behind off Vernon Philander for a run-a-ball 35.
Gayle continued to enjoy himself. He hit boundaries at will and he also counted seven fours in his knock. But his 10 sixes were twice the record number of five that have been struck by Australians Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist.
Gayle again entered the Twenty20 international record books when he drove Shaun Pollock straight for two to reach a landmark hundred which eclipsed Ponting's 98 not out against New Zealand two years ago in Auckland as the highest score in this form of the game.
West Indies innings
| C. Gayle c Boucher b van der Wath | 117 |
| D. Smith c Boucher b Philander | 35 |
| M. Samuels c de Villiers b Pollock | 6 |
S. Chanderpaul c Boucher b van der Wath | 11 |
| D. Smith c Gibbs b M. Morkel | 1 |
| R. Sarwan c de Villiers b Philander | 12 |
| D. Ramdin not out | 6 |
| D. Bravo not out | 0 |
| Extras (4lb, 12w, 1nb): | 17 |
| TOTAL (for six wkts - 20 overs): | 205 |
Fall: 1-145, 2-152, 3-178, 4-182, 5-188, 6-204. Bowling: Shaun Pollock 4-0-52-1 (4w), Makhaya Ntini 2-0-19-0, Johan van der Wath 4-0-33-2, Morne Morkel 4-0-30-1 (1nb, 1w), Vernon Philander 4-0-35-2 (1w), Albie Morkel 1-0-16-0 (2w), Graeme Smith 1-0-16-0. South Africa innings G. Smith c Gayle b Rampaul | 28 |
| H. Gibbs not out | 90 |
| A.B. de Villiers c Ramdin b Edwards | 16 |
| J. Kemp not out | 46 |
| Extras (4lb, 23w, 1nb): | 28 |
TOTAL (for two wkts - 17.4 overs): 208 Fall: 1-54, 2-88. Bowling: Daren Powell 4-0-34-0 (4w), Ravi Rampaul 4-0-52-1 (1nb, 1w), Dwayne Smith 2-0-37-0 (5w), Fidel Edwards 3-0-21-1 (4w), Dwayne Bravo 2.4-0-39-0 (2w), Marlon Samuels 2-0-21-0.
|
