When a Gale called Gaylecaused destruction:

Massacre of the Innocents

It was a SLAUGHTER. A Tsunami of sorts. Or call it the MASSACRE of the innocents. That was what everyone on the ground and watching it on television saw as CHRISTOPHER GAYLE lynched the Zimbabwe bowlers at the Manuka Oval on Tuesday.

It was Pool 'B' game in the 2015 World Cup in Canberra and it did not evoke much interest and although the West Indies were fancied to coast to victory, and and at most a convincing victory. Not a tornado by any expectations.

When the Windies batted they lost opener Dwayne Smith bowled second ball for a duck. Then another blaster Marlon Samuels joined Gayle. More about Samuels later.

Gayle survives to entertain

Gayle would have been gone first ball LBW. But he survived and from that moment what one saw was entertainment from Gayle in all its fury. He launched into all the Zimbabwe bowlers and hit them to the fence or over as he pleased. Effortlessly, one must add.

It was a once in a lifetime innings. When the ball struck bat it flew as if it was rocket launched. He sent the white leather for 10 fours and 16 sixes. This exhibition had to be seen to be believed. And believe it or not in just 147 deliveries. It was a stunning innings and one to savour.

The Zimbabweans were not sent on a leather chasing hunt. They were just taken by the scruff of the neck and wrenched and did not have to be an athlete like Usain Bolt or a Bailey chasing balls as the ball bisected the fields placed and sailed over into the spectators who it looked were been given catching practice.

While the bowlers just turned their arms over and watched the ball disappear, it was the two umpires Steve Davis and Ian Gould who had a time regularly using their hands to signal the fours and sixes hit by Gayle. And towards the end Samuels joined in the onslaught.

What a batting display it was

What a batting display it was from Gayle. Looking a man mountain, he was not in the best of form with two failures in the earlier games. His critics had their guns pointed. He realized that another failure and his critics would not hesitate to pull the trigger.

Once he got stuck into the bowlers he looked like a man possessed. With wrists and forearms looking like made out of steel, he got every vein, nerve, sinew and muscle straining as he let his bat do the bidding.

The power he packs is ox like. To describe it as tremendous is a misnomer. His timing is from out of this world. The hook, the pull, the lofted drive and the slashing square cut were all the strokes he used to punish the bowlers and not only the eleven Zimbabwe players, but also the two white balls would have been asking as to what sin they would have committed to be persecuted like this.

Writing his name in the record books is nothing to Gayle. But in this instance and with this magical innings he inked his name in the books as being the first player to slam a double hundred (215) in the history of World Cup cricket in the 40 years of its existence. His second wicket stand of 372 with Samuels was also a world record.

Hitting nothing new to Gayle

Hitting sixes is nothing new to Gayle. They come naturally and with ease. In sending the white balls into the crowd 16 times he joined Indian Rohit Sharma and Abraham de Villiers of South Africa who had performed this feat earlier.

Had Gayle hit another six and he had the opportunities to do so, he would have been tagged the hitter with most sixes but probably would have wanted to be bracketed with Sharma and De Villiers and did not to go over for the 17th time. His majestic, magnificent and marvellous innings came to an end only in the last ball of the innings.

When he reached his double hundred there were no antics of jumping for joy or punching the air, but he was jubilant and ecstatic and immediately while acknowleding the cheers from his team mates and the crowd who stood up to him, he went on his knees thanking almighty for helping him perform this batting miracle.

The moment it came to an end it was ecstasy to him, his mates and his legion of supporters and agony to the Zimbabweans. Zim Coach Dav Whatmore was shown soaking in the action and would have been hard pressed to believe and watch the mayhem and calamity that was unfolding. It was best described as man's inhumanity to man.

He lived beyond the expectations as described in the official West Indian profile: An entertainer by nature, Chris Gayle is free-scoring, aggressive style excels in the shorter format of the game, and along with his brisk-turning off spin you can be certain his contributions will be critical to the West Indies' chances in this tournament. With over 250 games to his name, he's also the most experienced ODI player in the squad.

Gayle gale blowing

While the Gayle gale was blowing, Samuels was the silent partner and on-looker. But Samuel's too is a mauler of bowlers. He showcased this when he launched Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga into the stands at the R. Premadasa International Stadium during a brutal assault that took his team's score to respectability and ultimate victory in the 2011 Twenty20 final against Sri Lanka.

With the overs running out and after reaching his 100 Samuels broke out after playing second fiddle to Gayle and put on show a batting event of his own. He smashed 11 fours and 3 sixes in his unbeaten 133 with a display of hitting that showed no mercy or forgiveness. These two knocks from Gayle and Samuel are what memories are made of.

It is said that England who gave the game to the world play for pride, Australia for glory and the Calypso boys for the heck of it and for enjoyment not caring whether they won or lost.

They have produced marvels such as George Headley, Learie Constantine, the terrible Ws - Weekes, Worrell and Walcott, Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, Rohan Kanhai and their present coach Richie Richardson to mention a few and many more. But to the writer Christopher Gayle has been the most destructive.

In addition to the two umpires fortunate to watch this batting execution were Sri Lankans Ranmore Martinez as third umpire and Roshan Mahanma as Match Referee. The reserve umpire was R.A. Kettleborough.

By the way enjoy life now. It has an expiry date on it.

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