PORT-OF-SPAIN (Trinidad), June 2: Left-hander Chris Gayle hammered a quickfire 84 as West Indies thrashed India by seven wickets in the rain-hit fourth One-day International to level the series 1-1 Saturday.
The 22-year-old Jamaican cracked nine fours and three big sixes as West Indies won with 17 balls to spare after bundling out India for 123 to turn Sunday’s fifth one-dayer into a virtual final.
The match was reduced to 25 overs a side after a four-hour delay due to rain, which continued to disrupt the series after forcing the first two matches to be abandoned without a ball being bowled in Kingston, Jamaica.
Gayle put up a blistering display of strokeplay, punishing the Indian bowling attack to all corners of the park with support from Wavell Hinds, who scored 30 off 45 balls.
Medium-pacer Corey Collymore had earlier grabbed three crucial wickets after Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat.
Scoreboard
INDIA:
S.C. Ganguly lbw b Collymore 39
V. Sehwag c Lara b Dillon 0
D. Mongia b Cuffy 13
V.V.S. Laxman run out 2
Yuvraj Singh c Jacobs b Collins 1
R.S. Dravid b Hooper 28
Mohammad Kaif c Gayle b Collymore 12
A.B. Agarkar c Jacobs b Collymore 0
Zaheer Khan b Hooper 7
Harbhajan Singh c Jacobs b Collins 6
T. Yohannan not out 2
EXTRAS (LB-5, W-4, NB-4) 13
TOTAL (all out, 25 overs) 123
FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-45, 3-53, 4-56, 5-66, 6-86, 7-86, 8-110, 9-118.