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Records, records and more records─── 16:41 Tue, 24 Feb 2015
Records, record and more records. This was the order of the day when the two-time champions, the West Indies faced Zimbabwe at the Cricket World Cup in Canberra today.
Windies master blaster, Chris Gayle was once against at his level best after smashing 215 runs for his first ODI ton in 20 matches.
After losing the wicket of Dwayne Smith of just the second ball of the match, Gayle and Marlon Samuels dug in their heels and put on a 372 run second wicket partnership to lead the Windies to 372 for two.
Zimbabwe puts up a brave fight, but were bowled out for 289 runs, to lose by 73 runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Among the records that were shattered at the Manuka Oval were the highest partnership in ODI history, bettering the 331 between Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.
The highest individual score in a World Cup, bettering the 188 not out South Africa’s Gary Kirsten scored against United Arab Emirates in 1996 by 27 runs.
Gayles’ 16 sixes also equalled the number of maximums in an ODI innings, drawing level with AB de Villiers and Rohit Sharma.
Gayle who survived a plumb lbw decision due to an incorrect ball projection by the hawk-eye admitted he though the umpire would give him his marching orders.
The Windies next face South Africa in Sydney on Friday, and Gayle hopes that today’s performance will give his side confidence against the Proteas.
Meanwhile, South Africa who are already in Sydney will be without Vernon Philander for the match due to his grade one hamstring strain.
Proteas batman, Hashim Alma says the side has moved on from their 130 run loss to India in Melbourne.
Amla, who is among a host of top order batsman yet to fire at the World Cup, said they will treat the Windies with respect, despite beating them 4-1 in their recent ODI series in South Africa.
Friday morning’s match at the iconic SCG gets underway at 5am.
Tomorrow morning the tenacious Irish face the United Arab Emirates at the Gabba, with the match starting at 5:15.
Morgan Piek / OFM News
Listen to the Cricket World Cup afternoon wrap - 24 February:
