Gayle warms up with 129 vs Aussies

BRIDGETOWN: Back in favour West Indies opener Chris Gayle warmed up for next week’s third Cable & Wireless Test against Australia with a commanding century for the University of the West Indies (UWI) Vice Chancellor’s XI as leg-spinner Stuart MacGill grabbed five wickets on the opening day of the three-day match yesterday.

The 23-year-old Gayle hit 129 in 198 minutes off 174 balls with 15 fours and three sixes - his 13th first-class century - in a first innings total of 290 all out off 71 overs after Philo Wallace won the toss on an easy-paced pitch at the 3Ws Oval, Cave Hill - the island’s newest of four first-class venues. By the close, Australia were 61 without loss off 17 overs with Justin Langer and Jimmy Maher, both on 28.

Gayle and fellow left-hander Jason Haynes, who made 58 in his first match at this level, added 195 in just under three hours for the second wicket following the early dismissal of former international player Wallace to Glenn McGrath. The pair particularly enjoyed the bowling of pacer Ashley Noffke, who conceded 61 runs off 12 overs, but once they were parted when Barbadian Haynes hit McGrath into the hands of midwicket, there was a collapse.

The next best score came from new West Indies cap David Bernard, who made 28, batting at number seven. MacGill, who was introduced into the attack for the 38th over at the northern end, perplexed the middle order after removing Gayle, who was third out, caught at midwicket. Flighting cleverly, MacGill lured the batsmen into providing close catches as he finished with five for 40 off 13 overs. Left-arm spinner Brad Hogg took three for 94 while McGrath, playing his first match of the tour after his belated arrival in the Caribbean on Wednesday due to his ill wife, picked up two for 41.

Gayle, whose omission from the first two Tests sparked controversy after he opted to play in the world double-wicket tournament in St Lucia instead of representing Jamaica in the Carib Beer International Challenge final against double-crown champions Barbados, executed several breath-taking strokes around the ground. In a lunch score of 127 for one off 26 overs, Gayle was on 81 with Haynes on 34. Barbadian Wallace, who returned home from Jamaica on Friday night after attending a five-day West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) coaching course, fell in the day’s fifth ball for four, edging a catch to wicket-keeper Maher.

Gayle was particularly strong on the drive, mainly through the off-side and sometimes down the ground. He also pulled with ferocious power and counted eight fours and one six in his half-century, which came in 68 minutes off 59 balls. His hundred took 147 minutes, off 126 deliveries and contained 11 fours and three sixes. Haynes struck seven fours and a six in 110-ball knock before lifting McGrath into the hands of midwicket.

Trinidadian Darry Balgobin (1), West Indies World Cup player Ricardo Powell (7) and Powell’s Jamaican compatriots Maurice Clarke (0) and wicket-keeper Matthew Sinclair (5), all fell in quick succession with MacGill accounting for the first three as the Vice Chancellor’s XI plunged to 235 for seven. At tea the score was 226 for six. Bernard, another Jamaican, who has been discarded for the third Test after making his debut in the second match in Trinidad, slammed five fours and a six as he co-incidentally batted for 28 minutes and received the same number of balls for his similar score. He put on 29 for the eighth wicket with Collins Obuya (17), the Kenyan off-spinner who created an impression at the recent World Cup. Fast bowler Corey Collymore contributed ten not out as Hogg wrapped up the tail.