28 March,2009 12:12 PM IST | | AFP
West Indies captain Chris Gayle smashed an impressive 80 runs from 43 balls on their way to an eight-wicket win in the third ODI against England last night.
West Indies now lead the five-match series 2-1.
England were humiliatingly bowled out for just 117 off 41.3 overs with Dimitri Mascarenhas top scoring for England with just 36.
An audacious and skilfull innings by Gayle, including eight sixes, completely devastated England, who only bowled 14.4 of their 44 allotted overs, calculated on the Duckworth-Lewis system.
Gayle told Sky Sports afterwards: "It was a brilliant knock but to give the groundsman credit it was a good wicket to bat on. It was a good innings and I'm very happy. It was just one of those innings.
"I was happy to get the win and I just want to say each and everyone played well today. I do not want to single out players. We all played a good game of cricket today."
England skipper Andrew Strauss said afterwards: "I think all the guys sitting in the dressing room were embarrassed by the way they played today. There were very few positives to come out of it. But I'm not going to make any excuses. It was not good enough.
"We feel pretty down but we'll just have to take it on the chin. We'll have to come back on Sunday to prove a point."
England's bowlers were completely demoralised, as Gayle blasted five fours and eight sixes to hasten West Indies to victory with 176 balls to spare.
Andrew Flintoff was the only England bowler that was spared punishment from Gayle before James Anderson bowled the West Indies captain.
Dimitri Mascarenhas suffered the most at the hands of Gayle, when 24 came from his only over comprising a four, three sixes, and a double.
Earlier, Mascarenhas, batting at eight, led the way with the bat for the tourists with 36 from 76 balls, after they plunged to 55 for six in the 25th over.
Mascarenhas added a valuable 48 for the ninth wicket with Gareth Batty to limp England over the 100-run threshold, but West Indies never eased their grip on the match.
Dwayne Bravo was the pick of the West Indies bowlers with four for 19 from seven overs, Fidel Edwards took three for 28 from 8.3 overs, and Kieron Pollard bagged two for 16 from six overs.
After the start was delayed by an hour-and-a-half, England lost Andrew Strauss to a fine catch by West Indies captain Chris Gayle running back from slip off Fidel Edwards, who also had Ravi Bopara caught at mid-on in the space of three balls in the seventh over.
England were then rocked, when they lost Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, and Andrew Flintoff in three successive overs.
Pietersen mistimed a pull to deep mid-wicket off Dwayne Bravo in the 14th over, Shah was caught low at backward point off Lionel Baker in the 15th over, and Andrew Flintoff miscued a hook at a bouncer from Bravo and was caught at deep fine leg for a duck in the 16th over.
Paul Collingwood played across Bravo and was lbw for zero in the 19th over, and the slump was complete, when Marcus Prior cut a wide, short, rising ball from Kieron Pollard and was caught at cover for seven, and Stuart Broad was caught behind off the same bowler for a duck to leave England 68 for eight in the 25th over.
Mascarenhas and Batty batted for almost 15 overs to stem the fall of wickets before they were dismissed in successive overs in a wrap to the England innings.
West Indies played an unchanged side, but England dropped Steve Harmison to play Flintoff.
All-rounder Flintoff was passed fit to play on Tuesday, following a hip injury that kept him sidelined for a month and saw him return to England for treatment.
