NAPIER, New Zealand (CMC):

West Indies captain Chris Gayle said yester-day the regional team had no reason to be disheartened, despite losing their five-match one-day international (ODI) series to New Zealand.

The tourists lost the decisive match by nine runs under the Duckworth/Lewis Method, giving the Black Caps a 2-1 series win, after two matches in the series were abandoned because of rain.

"The result will show that we lost the match, but we don't feel like losers. We have gained a lot on this tour," Gayle said.

"It was building up into a close match and then the rain intervened, so there is not much you can do about that. They were five wickets down, and if the game went the full 50 overs, there was a possibility we could have won."

West Indies put themselves within reach of winning the match when they piled up 293 for five off their allotted 50 overs, after being sent in at McLean Park.

They were lifted by Gayle's 19th ODI century, a brilliant 135 off 129 balls which took him past 7,000 runs in his 194th match. He joined Brian Lara, Desmond Haynes and Shivnarine Chanderpaul as the only West Indians to hit the 7,000-run mark.

Gayle shared a third-wicket stand of 170 with Chanderpaul, who made 94 from 91 balls with nine fours and a six, to ignite the Windies innings.

"I wanted to end this tour on a high. I got a hundred and that felt really good and Shiv played an excellent supporting role. He deserves credit for his innings. He played a big role," Gayle noted.

The Jamaican said though West Indies failed to win any of the series - the Test and Twenty20 International contests were drawn - the team deserved praise for their sterling effort throughout the tour.

"It was a long tour and credit must go to the guys for the way we played. We were close in the Test series and the Twenty20 series was also tied," Gayle pointed out.

"It came down to the last ODI here. We did not actually win any of the series, but it was a good tour for us. We just have to build on this and look ahead to the series against England and a long and challenging year."

West Indies return to the Caribbean, tomorrow and Friday, where they will begin preparation for the England tour starting in February.