Opener's boundary-filled knock steers WI to easy win in World T20 warm-up

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CMC):

Chris Gayle struck a boundary-filled 65 to lead West Indies to an easy eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan in their final warm-up fixture ahead of the ICC Twenty20 tournament starting in Sri Lanka today.

Gayle started cautiously but later exploded into an array of shots as West Indies coasted to the modest target of 123 with more than five overs to spare.

He faced 48 deliveries, hitting five fours and four sixes and featured in a 29-run partnership with Dwayne Smith for the first wicket.

Gayle also teamed up with Johnson Charles, adding 59 runs in six overs which effectively smashed Afghanistan's dreams of creating an upset.

Marlon Samuels was not out on 15.

Early in their turn at the crease Afghanistan found it increasingly difficult to boost their run-rate when it became necessary.

Asghar Stanikzai was their star batsman, scoring his second half-century in two matches and batting responsibly to guide the innings for the most part.

His top score of 53 included five fours and two sixes, but before he could boost Afghanistan's scoring he was caught in the 18th over, leaving his side 100 for six.

A few boundaries towards the end took them to 122, but not enough to offset a West Indies run-chase.

Fidel Edwards grabbed three for 24 to be the pick of the West Indies bowlers, while Sunil Narine took two for 23 and a wicket each went to Darren Sammy and Ravi Rampaul.

West Indies face Australia in their first World Twenty/20 game Saturday, September 22 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, while Afghanistan play India at the same venue three days later.

SCOREBOARD

AFGHANISTAN

Did not bat: Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Izatullah Dawlatzai, Javed Ahmadi, Hamid Hassan, Najibullah Zadran

Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Karim Sadiq, 1 over), 2-30 (Nawroz Mangal, 4.3), 3-32 (Mohammad Shahzad, 5.2),4-93 (Mohammad Nabi, 15), 5-100 (Shafiqullah, 16.4), 6-100 (Asghar Stanikzai, 17.3),7-114 (Gulbodin Naib, 19.1)

Bowling: Edwards 4-0-24-3, Rampaul 4-0-26-1, Sammy 4-0-26-1, Russell 2-0-12-0, Narine 4-0-23-2, Samuels 3-0-18-0.

WEST INDIES

Did not bat: K Pollard, +D Ramdin, A Russell,D Sammy, L Simmons, S Badree, DJ Bravo, DM Bravo, S Narine, R Rampaul, F Edwards

Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Smith, 5.1 overs), 2-88 (Charles, 11.1)

Bowling: Zadran 2- 0- 9- 0-, Dawlatzai 4- 0-38- 0, Sadiq 3-0- 8-0, Nabi 4-0-29-2, Baras 1-0-13-0, Shenwari 1-0-13- 0, Mangal 0.5-0-6-0.

Result: West Indies won by eight wickets.

Toss: Afghanistan.

Umpires: A de Silva, M Nandiweera.