Chris Gayle entertains fans with 24th ODI century

In the first ODI of a lively Caribbean summer so far, West Indies captain Jason Holder won the toss and elected to bat at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. The big news of the week was Chris Gayle's decision to retire from ODI cricket after the end of World Cup 2019, and all the eyes were on him. And boy, did he deliver.

Starting off slowly, Chris Gayle looked to have decided to bat right through the innings - a strategy he has been employing in ODI's since the last year. Though Gayle started off unusually slowly this time, he was supported well by John Campbell at the other end, who ensured the team would be batting at over five an over.

After Campbell departed with the team score at 38, Gayle found good support in the form of Shai Hope, whose run-a-ball 64 brought the team back on track before Gayle got going. Rather unusually, Gayle hit his first four in the 21st over of the innings. He hit Moeen Ali for a six each in the 15th, 21st and 25th over, and regularly attacked the spinner, hitting him against the spin.

In the 27th over of the innings, Gayle hit Liam Plunkett for two sixes - both landing outside the stadium. The ball was changed twice in the over. The event was repeated again in the 31st over when Mark Wood lost control of an intended yorker to bull a full toss beamer, which was smashed to the straight boundary.

It was given a no ball, and the next ball - a free hit - was smashed out of the ground to bring up Gayle's seventh six of the innings. He again hit back to back sixes on the last two balls of the 32nd over bowled by Liam Plunkett. The last six was a top edge, which carried out of the ground with three fielders running after it, thanks to Gayle's natural power.

Gayle reached his century in the 35th over of the innings, taking a single on the second ball of the over bowled by Chris Woakes.