Gayle slams ton, Windies storm into main stage crushing Bangla

Jaipur, Oct 11 (UNI) Chris Gayle sent the Bangladesh bowlers on a leatherhunt with an unbeaten 104 as defending champion West Indies pummelled the minnows by 10 wickets in the qualifying match to storm into the final stage of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here tonight.

After their bowlers had bundled the Bangla side for a paltry 161, the West Indies openers Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (52 not out) ensured that their teammates need not come out of their comfort in the pavilion and the duo raced to 164 in 36.4 overs for a facile win with 80 balls to spare.

The ICC rankings system meant despite being the defending champions, Brian Lara's team had to go through the qualifier and the side did it in style, steamrolling Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad and then crushing Bangladesh today.

A tentative Gayle needed 11 balls to get off the mark but he could not be tamed for long and the giant southpaw was soon in his elements and Chanderpaul played the perfect foil, dropping anchor once Gayle got going.

Gayle's unbeaten 118-ball knock of 104 included 11 fours and three towering sixes while Chanderpaul's sedate half century included six hits to the fence.

Earlier, Aftab Ahmed's 54-ball knock of 59 proved a false dawn as Bangladesh succumbed to a massive collapse and were skittled out for a meagre 161 in 46.3 overs.

Despite an early setback, Aftab and Shahariar Naffes (38) put together 85 runs for the second wicket to build a foundation but the effort went in vain with the West Indian bowlers clawing back in the match and then going for the kill.

Bangladesh lost their last nine batsmen for a mere 67 runs.

Despite losing opener Mohammad Ashraful (2) early, Bangladesh overcame the setback and Aftab (59) showed little sign of nerve and got off the mark with a boundary off Taylore in the first ball he faced.

Aftab soon upped the tempo and hit three boundaries in a Taylore over and then top-edged the pacer in his next over for a six and picked up Ian Bradshaw for the same treatment.

Aftab struck Colleymore for two successive fours for his seventh ODI fifty but soon followed a Bangla batting collapse.

After playing a sedate knock of 38, Shahriar's attempted cut off Samuels found Chris Gayle's safe hands at slip and Collymore then struck back-to-back blows, knocking Saqibul Hasan's (0) off-stump and trapping Habibul Basher for the Bangla captain's second successive duck.

Aftab too, trying to hit Samuels over the top, perished at long leg to end a superb 55-ball knock of 59 that was studded with seven hits to the fence besides two sixes.

Having tasted blood, West Indies bowlers tightened the noose and it was a spectacular batting collapse that had the minnows all out for 161 in 46.3 overs.

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