West Indies vs England 2019: Gayle storm hits the visitors
Chris Gayle's last ODI match was against Bangladesh on July 28 in 2018. But now, the swashbuckling opener is back in the ODI setup to face England.
The Windies have already defeated the visitors in the Test series 2-1 and will be looking for more of the same in the ODIs. They will play 5 ODIs against the Englishmen and Gayle has been named in the squad for the first two.
In the first of the 5 matches, Windies skipper Jason Holder won the toss and elected to bat first which meant that Gayle would not have to wait for his chance to impress.
Gayle is not just back, he is back with a bang. In his comeback match, the Jamaican scored a massive 135 in which he hit 3 fours and 12 sixes. In doing so he brought up his 24th international hundred and his third against England.
Gayle also surpassed the long-standing sixes record of Shahid Afridi, overhauling his tally of 476 international sixes across all formats. In the first delivery of the 14th over, Gayle let loose on Moeen Ali's delivery to bring up his 477th six, breaking Afridi's record.
The initial part of his innings saw him struggle to score, but he managed to survive the tour period. And once he was set, scoring became a much easier job.
This innings of his might also help him with his opening spot for KXIP in the 2019 IPL.
The man has been in and out of the ODI squad, but this time it seems that he is here to prove a point and book his spot for the World Cup that is scheduled to be held in England and Wales this year.
Gayle has decided to retire from ODI after the 2019 World Cup ends, and he looks determined to go out with a big splash.