Chris Gayle is the third oldest batsman to score a hundred in ODI cricket (AP Photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Gayle scored 135 off 129 balls with the help of just three boundaries but 12 sixes
- Gayle also toppled former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi to top the list of most international sixes
- The 39-year-old is set to retire from international cricket after the ICC World Cup in May-June
West Indies opener Chris Gayle marked his return to the one-day international team in style as he smashed his 24th hundred in the format but was unfortunate not to end up on the winning side as England won the first ODI by 6 wickets in Bridgetown on Thursday.
Gayle scored 135 off 129 balls with the help of just three boundaries but 12 sixes to consolidate his 8th spot on the list of batsmen with most hundreds in one-day international cricket.
In the process he also became the third oldest player to score a century in the format after United Arab Emirates' Khurram Khan (43 years 162 days) vs Afghanistan in 2014 and Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya (39 years 212 days) vs India in 2009. Gayle scored his hundred aged 39 years and 152 days.
Gayle also toppled former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi to top the list of most international sixes during his swashbuckling innings. The Jamaican hit a six of the first ball in the 15th over of the West Indies innings off Moeen Ali to surpass Pakistan's Afridi.
Gayle, who is set to retire from international cricket after the ICC World Cup in May-June, now has 488 international sixes, while Afridi had hit 476 maximums during his 22-year career.
Gayle's first 50 had occupied 76 balls, his second 50 required only 24. He celebrated the moment by dropping to his knees and hailing the pavilion before getting to his feet, balancing his maroon helmet on top of his bat.
He finally fell in the 47th over, turning a Ben Stokes slower ball into his stumps.
#WIvENG WINDIES made history today finishing the innings on 360/8 - their highest ODI score ever against England and the highest in the Caribbean. England still to bat. #ItsOurGame #MenInMaroon- 135 (129) Chris Gayle- 64 (65) Shai Hope- 40 (30) Darren Bravo
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But his hundred went in vain as England pulled off their highest successful run chase in the format as they chased down the target of 361 with 6 wickets in hand.
England's previous best pursuit was the 350 they scored against New Zealand in 2015 but Jos Buttler clipped his first ball for four to put England on 364-4 and seal a historic win with eight deliveries remaining.
Jason Roy led England at the top of the order with 123 in 85 balls, while Joe Root all but finished the job with a measured 102 before falling with the scores tied.
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