West Indies' Christopher Gayle plays a shot during a match against Zimbabwe in the ICC Champions Trophy in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, yesterday. Gayle snatched the Man-of-the Match honours after scoring 41 off 34 balls and claiming three wickets for three runs. - REUTERS
AHMEDABAD, India (CMC):
West Indies began their defence of the ICC Champions Trophy in emphatic style, when they crushed Zimbabwe by nine wickets in the low-scoring second qualifying match yesterday at the Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium.
Set a measly 86 to win from 50 overs, West Indies achieved their target with 36.4 overs to spare, and formalised the result when their captain Brian Lara lofted his opposite number Prosper Utseya for a straight six.
Chris Gayle defied illness to hit seven fours and one six in the top score of 41 from 34 balls that followed his three wickets for three runs from 3.1 overs and made him a shoe-in for the Man-of-the-Match award.
West Indies provisionally lead the four-team standings ahead of Sri Lanka with a significantly better net run rate, and face Bangladesh in the fourth qualifier on Wednesday at Jaipur.
Gayle was the only casualty in the rapid West Indies chase, as the match failed to make it to the scheduled interval for dinner.
Gayle, alongside fellow opener Chanderpaul appeared watchful, but he exploded when he jumped the new-ball pair of Anthony Ireland and Edward Rainsford with a volley of strokes to all parts of the ground.
GAYLE
Three times Zimbabwe could have removed Gayle before they even-tually did. He was dropped at extra cover by Utseya off Rainsford, who also had been dropped by Anthony Ireland at third man, before a skier dropped in between three fielders two balls before he was caught at deep mid wicket off Chigumbura in the 10th over.
Lara came to the crease and hastened the end with two fours and two sixes in 24 not out off 20 balls and Shivnarine Chanderpaul was not out on 14.
West Indies had dismissed Zimbabwe for 85 in 30.1 overs, after the African side had chosen to bat on a hard, true pitch under sunny afternoon skies.
Only the United States (64 vs Australia, Southampton, 2004) and Bangladesh (77 vs New Zealand, Colombo, 2002) have been bowled out for lower totals in the competition's short history.
Mean, purposeful bowling from the West Indies prevented the Zimbabweans from jamming their foot down the accelerator.
Dwayne Smith took two for 14 from six overs and Jerome Taylor
two from 19 from six overs to support Gayle.
Utseya's 27 that contained two boundaries from 41 balls was the best effort from a Zimbabwean batsman.
West Indies struck two important blows in the first five overs, when they removed the highly-regarded pair of Justice Chibhabha and Hamilton Masakadza and Zimbabwe never recovered.
Ian Bradshaw bowled Chibhabha, who was a thorn in the West Indies' side in a One-day International series earlier this year in the Caribbean, for one in the fourth over, and Taylor condemned Masakadza, whose maiden Test century was against West Indies, to a similar fate and score next over to leave Zimbabwe 10 for two.
West Indies snared two more wickets in the space of five balls, just when it looked like Zimbabwe were beginning to blossom.
Taylor had opener Tafadzwa Mufambisi caught behind for 18 gloving a short, rising ball in the ninth over, and a bullet-like direct hit at the striker's end from Shivnarine Chanderpaul at mid-on resulted in Brendan Taylor being run out for seven in the 10th over to leave Zimbabwe on 39 for four.
West Indies continued to turn the screws and apart from Utseya, the rest of the Zimbabwean batting failed to rise to the challenge as the African side lost their last six batsmen for 46 in the space of 18.5 overs.
Sri Lanka won the opening qualifier on Saturday when they beat Bangladesh by 37 runs.
SCOREBOARD
ZIMBABWE
(maximum 50 overs)
| T. Mufambisi c wkpr Baugh b Taylor | 18 |
| J. Chibhabha b Bradshaw | 1 |
| H. Masakadza b Taylor | 1 |
| +B. Taylor run out (Chanderpaul) | 7 |
| S. Matsikenyeri c wkpr Baugh b Smith | 7 |
| E. Chigumbura c Taylor b Smith | 10 |
| P. Rinke run out (Hinds) | 1 |
| P. Utseya lbw b Gayle | 27 |
| A. Ireland b Gayle | 6 |
| E. Rainsford c Bravo b Gayle | 0 |
| T. Kamungozi not out | 0 |
| Extras (lb1, w3, nb3) | 7 |
| TOTAL (all out - 30.1 overs) | 85 |
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-10, 3-31, 4-31, 5-39,
6-46, 7-58, 8-82, 9-84.
Bowling: Taylor 6-0-19-2 (nb1, w1); Bradshaw 8-1-20-1 (nb1, w2); Smith 6-2-14-2 (nb1); Bravo 7-0-28-0; Gayle 3.1-1-3-3.
WEST INDIES
(target: 86 runs off 50 overs)
C. Gayle c Kamungozi b Chigumbura 41
S. Chanderpaul not out 14
B. Lara not out | 24 |
| Extras (b4, lb2, w1, nb4) | 11 |
TOTAL (1 wkt - 14.2 overs) 90
R. Sarwan, M. Samuels, D. Bravo, D. Smith, W. Hinds, +C. Baugh, Jr., J.
Taylor, I. Bradshaw did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-66.
Bowling: Rainsford 5-1-21-0 (nb1, w1); Ireland 4-1-27-0 (nb1); Chigumbura 3-1-17-1 (nb2); Utseya 2.2-0-19-0.
Result: West Indies won by nine wickets.
Points: West Indies two, Zimbabwe zero.
Toss: Zimbabwe.
Umpires: R. Koertzen, M. Benson (TV Replays: Aleem Dar).
Match Referee: J. Crowe.
Man-of-the-Match: Chris Gayle (West Indies).
