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West Indies captain Chris Gayle will enter the upcoming limited over series against Australia in devastating touch after his brilliant knock set up a 87-run win over the Prime Minister’s XI on Thursday.
Gayle blasted 146 off just 89 balls in a breathtaking innings at Manuka Oval, picking up where he left off in the Third Test against Australia last December when he notched the fifth-fastest Test ton in history.
The captain was well supported by teammates Travis Dowlin (72) and Lendl Simmons (70no) as the Windies piled on a mammoth 5-399 in a rain-affected innings reduced to 45 overs.
The brave PM XI’s managed 7-312 in reply, thanks mainly to a record-breaking unbeaten knock of 162 from South Australia batsman Tom Cooper.
As the only warm-up match before the five one-dayers and two Twenty20 matches against Australia – starting at the MCG on Sunday – the performance provides a huge confidence boost to an injury-hit West Indies squad.
Already without the likes of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Jerome Taylor, the Windies also lost allrounder and vice captain Dwayne Bravo for the whole series on Thursday after he succumbed to a broken finger.
But they showed plenty against a mostly-youthful PM’s XI side – albeit on an excellent batting pitch – to indicate they will be a formidable opponent against Australia, especially with Gayle at the helm.
The captain’s innings, which featured eight sixes, set a new record in Prime Minister’s XI matches, surpassing David Boon’s 134 against West Indies in 1983/84 – before it was later bettered by Cooper.
Gayle came out all guns blazing, lashing Victorian quick James Pattinson (0-91) away for three fours in the first three balls of the match.
He did get more than a slice of luck in the fourth over when he was dropped twice, but from then Gayle was at his brutal best, bringing up his 50 off just 23 balls with a huge six over and doing the same to bring up his hundred off just 57.
He finally fell in the 29th over when he hit a drive straight to Hayden at midwicket, giving Victorian 17-year-old Alex Keith the first of four wickets and ending a 234-run stand with Dowlin – another record.
Opener Cooper, 23, carried his bat through the innings for his 162 off 121 balls, smashing six sixes in by far the innings of his career.
PM’s XI captain Mathew Hayden saved himself for the middle order but was stumped for 13 off spinner Nikita Miller (3-51) on his anticipated return to the crease.
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