Fresh from a Chris Gayle power show that took them to their second win in the World Cup, a buoyant West Indies will now take on South Africa, who are still licking their wounds after the 130-run hammering against India, in a Pool B match, here on Friday.
Once again all eyes will be on Gayle, who smashed the first double century of the 50-over showpiece event against Zimbabwe in their previous game, and it will be interesting to see how the destructive opener tackles one the most potent bowling attacks, led by Dale Steyn.
After being shocked by Ireland in their opening game, West Indies turned on the heat against Pakistan to humble the Misbah-ul-Haq-led side by 150 runs and then romped past Zimbabwe to get placed behind leaders India in the pool table.
The destructive Gayle came out of his slumber in Canberra, hitting a 147-ball 215 to sound the warning bells for every side in the competition. Sharing a record 372-run second wicket partnership with Marlon Samuels (133), Gayle, who became the only non-Indian batsman after Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma (2) to hit a double ton in ODIs, set a new benchmark of run-scoring in this edition of the World Cup. The West Indies pace attack comprising Jerome Taylor, skipper Jason Holder and Andre Russell has also showed intent after a lacklustre showing against the William Porterfield-led side, which cantered to their 305-run target.
West Indies Coach Stuart Williams said the side had learnt a lot from the recent South Africa series and believes the next meeting can be different.
Gayle misses training
Holder played down Chris Gayle’s absence from training.
Gayle has a chronic back complaint. Holder said Gayle was being nursed through the tournament to ensure he was in the best possible shape to play.
“In terms of Chris’s fitness, obviously he’s been struggling over the past with his back.”
AB de Villiers laughed off Gayle’s absence from training.
“He doesn’t train often. I played with him in Bangalore, and you don’t often see him in the nets. “He needs to look after himself to make sure he gets on the path,” he said.