A world record of sixes expedition, a Chris Gayle masterpiece and centuries by Jason Roy and Joe Root and Cricket West Indies (CWI) might have considered asking the fans who showed up for the first Colonial Medical Insurance Cup match at Kensington Oval yesterday to pay a little extra, to exit the ground.
Entertainment at its best was the order of the day with 724 runs scored, and England stole the show by getting their highest ever successful run chase in ODI to take a six-wicket victory and a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Gayle smacked 135 to lead the Windies to 360/8 off their 50 overs but his work was undone by eight dropped catches, a tight stumping decision that went against his team and three great knocks by Jason Roy 123, Joe Root 102 and Eion Morgan 65.
England got off to a brilliant start as Roy manhandled the Windies attack. While he batted one got the impression that teams would have to come really good to stop England from winning their first World Cup later in the summer.
He and Jonny Bairstow punished loose bowling on a featherbed surface to post an opening association of 91 runs. Bairstow counted 34 off 33 balls but the difference in the match was the partnership of 114 between Roy and Root for the second wicket. Roy scored 123 off 85 balls with 15 fours and three sixes. He was the benefactor of three chances, while Root who fell just before the end, also got three chances. Root who scored a century in the final innings of the Test series got another off 91 balls with nine fours.
Skipper Morgan and Root put together a third-wicket stand of 116 runs after Roy left. Morgan looked in fine touch getting 65 off 51 balls with four fours and three sixes.
Earlier, Windies won the toss and decided to take the first strike on a pitch that was devoid of grass. Openers Gayle and John Campbell went to work with the latter keeping the scoreboard ticking with the old Rolls Royce needing some time to warm up. The new hardball was coming unto the bat nicely and Campbell was able to play his shots. The score moved along to 38 when Campbell pulled a delivery from Chris Woakes to the lone fielder on the legside boundary. The left hander’s contribution was 30 out of the partnership and it came off 28 balls with four fours and a six.
Enter Shai Hope and the 10 per cent Bajan connection in the crowd came to life. He walked out and took charge, while the Universe Boss got a close look at the future of Windies batting. He majestically played an on-drive to the fence that released the tap to his adrenaline reserves.
The neat right-hander was elegant and his stroke play was as smooth as Harvey’s Bristol Creme down to the last drop. He looked in prime touch and continued to impress in this format. Coming into the game averaging 67 in his last 10 ODI matches, he again recorded a half-century, reaching the milestone before Gayle. He needed only 48 balls and struck just one six and five fours.
Gayle soon followed to his half a ton off 76 balls with two fours and three sixes. While the two batted, England looked hapless and the pitch was baking under the Barbados sun. The more it baked the more enjoyable it was for the two batsmen. It seemed even more enjoyable than a famous Barbadian macaroni pie, as both batsmen stuck in.
Hope left with the score at 169 for two after sharing a 131-run stand for the second wicket with Gayle. These runs came off 21.1 overs and put the Windies firmly in control. Hope left to a standing ovation for 64 off 65 balls with seven fours and a six.
Enter Shimron Hetmyer and the same plundering continued. The “Hitmyster’ matched a now free-flowing Gayle shot for shot and saw the big Jamaican register his 24th ODI hundred. It came off 100 balls with three fours and nine sixes.
Hetmyer then left for 20 off 15 balls with two fours and a six, to be followed by debutant Nicolas Pooran, who was caught on the boundary without scoring.
Darren Bravo then stepped forward and dumped his first ball from Adil Rashid for six over long-on. He looked like a man possessed and further destroyed the England bowlers, reducing them to tatters, as he belted 40 off 30 balls with four fours and two sixes.
A tired Gayle then followed him bowled by Ben Stokes for 135. His runs came in 217 minutes off 129 balls and included 12 sixes and three fours. The 12 sixes are the most in an ODI in the Caribbean beating Denesh Ramdin’s 11 against Bangladesh at St. Kitts in 2014.
Towards the end, Ashley Nurse banged 25 not out off eight deliveries to carry the Windies to their highest score against England in ODIs. They bettered the 356 for 5 against them in 2017 at the Oval in London. This total also eclipsed the Windies best at Kensington Oval which was 312 for four against Sri Lanka in 2003. The effort was also the best by the Windies in the Caribbean, beating the 338/7 against Bangladesh at Warner Park in St. Kitts in 2014. The 360/7 was also the joint third highest score by the regional team. The highest being 372 for two against Zimbabwe at the 2015 ICC World Cup at Canberra, Australia.
In this innings, the Windies created a world record by hitting the most sixes in an innings 23. This got past the 22 made by New Zealand against the Windies in 2014 at Queenstown, New Zealand.
The second match of the series, takes place tomorrow at the same venue, starting at 11 am.