West Indies captain Gayle ready to sting India

West Indian captain Chris Gayle is not losing heart after the semi-final loss in the World Twenty20 and has vowed to bounce back in the upcoming one-day series against India.
The West Indies exited from the tournament on Friday after a stinging 57-run defeat by Sri Lanka at the Oval, but Gayle said he was proud that his team had reached the semi-finals.
"Of course we are disappointed because we too wanted to be in the final, but that does not take anything away from the way the team has played through this tournament.
"I am proud of the boys, they put everything into it. We backed ourselves and came this far. It is a great learning experience for the younger players in the team.
"If they learn the lessons quickly we should be able to capitalise in home conditions when the World Twenty20 is held in the Caribbean next year."
Gayle hoped West Indian fans were happy at the team's performance in the tournament after it was routed 2-0 in the preceding bilateral Test series against England.
"Fans are very hard to please," said Gayle. "They only want victory everytime. I just want to say tough luck to the fans. But I hope they will keep supporting us and stop cursing.
"I say to my fans that we will fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee, we'll be back. What can I do about it? Ask Muhammad Ali!"
The West Indies were outplayed on Friday after Tillakaratne Dilshan's unbeaten 96 in Sri Lanka's 158-5 was followed by an astonishing first over from rising fast bowler Angelo Mathews.
Mathews claimed three wickets in five balls as the Windies slipped to 1-3 and were shot out for 101 despite Gayle carrying his bat for an unbeaten 63.
"The three wickets in the first over set us back and we could not overcome that as we kept losing wickets regularly," said Gayle.
"You need partnerships in any form of the game, but this is especially true of Twenty20 cricket.
"All credit to Dilshan for the way he batted. I thought we had a good start to keep them down in the first six overs and Dilshan was their only batsman among the runs.
"He just did not give us a chance and helped set a decent total for Sri Lanka."
Gayle said he looked forward to the four one-day matches against India in the Caribbean starting later this month.
"We will get back home for a few days and start another series soon," the West Indian captain said.
"India may not have made the semi-finals here and we did, but we start from scratch and have to do all the hard work again.
"India is always a good one-day team, so it is bound to be a tough series."
Asked whether he will put his money on Sri Lanka or Pakistan in Sunday's final, Gayle quipped: "I am broke, maan!"
"But we can't ask for a better final. We have two quality teams and so it should be a quality final."

Dhoni relaxed about Gayle storm

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted there would be little he could do if rival skipper Chris Gayle was at his best during their opening World Twenty20 Super Eights clash against the West Indies.
Gayle hammered Australia for a blistering 88 in West Indies' seven-wicket win over Ricky Ponting's men and the left-handed opener has a well deserved reputation for an ability to make rapid scores against even the best attacks.
Having missed the 'dead' game against Sri Lanka with a knee injury, Gayle is expected to return for Friday's clash with defending champions India at Lord's.
"A player like Chris Gayle, you can't plan too much because you can't have players outside the field," Dhoni told reporters at Lord's on Thursday.
"He's a big six-hitter, he will take risks and he can get out. But, in this format, if he has good day you can be on the losing side," Dhoni admitted.
"But we have one or two players like that."
However, India will be without Virender Sehwag after the dynamic opening batsman was ruled out of the tournament with a right shoulder injury that sidelined him from the group stage.
"Sehwag is a very talented player, he can put pressure on when the ball is moving around," Dhoni said before stressing how well the talented Rohit Sharma had performed after stepping up into an opening slot alongside Gautam Gambhir.
"Rohit Sharma is filling his shoes. He's a part-time opener but he's doing really well. He was the best option and he grabbed the opportunity he got."
There is a belief that if a top side gets Gayle out cheaply then the game is all but won.
But Dhoni said the West Indies were much more than a one-man team.
"They've got quite a few big blokes who can hit sixes and push bowlers on to the backfoot.
"Dwayne Bravo is good, then there's Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan. They've alo got bowlers who bowl at 140kph plus and use the slower ball and bouncer effectively."
India were given official clearance Thursday by the ICC to replace Sehwag with Dinesh Karthik and Dhoni said: "Dinesh Karthik has opened in Test matches and done well lower down the order in the IPL.
"He can do well in two slots and he can also replace me as a wicket-keeper."
India, initially suspicious of this format, won the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago after beating arch-rivals Pakistan by five runs in a thrilling final.
"We got loads of confidence from having won the last World Twenty20 but we can't rely on that," said Dhoni.

Gayle storm blows away Australia

Leading from the front, the West Indies captain Chris Gayle did what he is best known for – taking away the match on his own – in the ICC World Twenty20 match against Australia at the Oval here on Saturday. The West Indies overhauled the target of 169 runs with seven wickets in hand in just 15.5 overs.
Gayle smashed 88 off 50 balls against Australia and along with Andre Fletcher shared the third highest partnership in the T20 internationals. The West Indies skipper hit six sixes and as many fours in his knock which dismantled the Australian bowlers both mentally and physically.
Before the tournament, the West Indies had been ridiculed for their captain's comments about the primacy of Twenty20 so there was a sense of anticipation over how they would fare in their preferred format but the West Indies skipper matched his words with his actions.
Earlier, Australia had to work hard for the runs as they posted 169 runs thanks largely to a good knock by David Warner. The West Indies bowlers gave the team a great start by pushing Australia on the backfoot from the word go. The pitch was a flat but Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards relished the challenge.
Taylor claimed two wickets in his opening over and if there had not conceded wides, Australia would have been 0 for 2. While the other batsmen were copping fiery treatment from the bowlers, Warner experienced the fielders' generosity. He played with a mix of aggression and caution. Along with Brad Haddin, he handled the repair work with a 66-run stand.
Warner scored 63 runs off 53 balls to keep Australia in the game. The Hussey brothers – David and Mike – also played their role scoring 27 and 28 runs respectively. But the Australian bowlers’ inability to stop Gayle will leave the team with the challenge of having to beat Sri Lanka in their next game in the group of death.

Punjab blown away by Kolkata Gayle

Chris Gayle hammered an explosive 44 not out to power Kolkata Knight Riders to an 11-run victory over Kings XI Punjab in a rain-hit Indian Premier League match on Tuesday.
The West Indies skipper smashed four sixes in his 26-ball knock as Kolkata raced to 79-1 off 9.2 overs in reply to their opponents' 20-over total of 158-6 when the game was called off due to rain.
Kolkata, who were 11 runs ahead on the Duckworth-Lewis method, posted their first win in two games. Punjab have lost both of their matches.
Left-handed Gayle put his team on course for victory when he put on 57 off just 33 balls for the opening wicket with New Zealander Brendon McCullum, who cracked two sixes in his 16-ball 21.
Punjab paid dearly for letting off Gayle early in the innings, with Karan Goel dropping an easy catch at mid-wicket off South African left-arm seamer Yusuf Abdulla.
Yuvraj Singh and Kumar Sangakkara (26) helped Punjab post a respectable total with a 56-run stand for the fourth wicket after a double-strike from Kolkata seamer Sourav Ganguly.
Skipper Yuvraj, who smashed six sixes in an over at this venue against England in the Twenty20 World Championships in 2007, top-scored with a 28-ball 38 with the help of two sixes.
Former India captain Ganguly ended Punjab's early flourish with two wickets in his opening over, having pinch-hitter Irfan Pathan (32) caught at deep mid-wicket and removing Ravi Bopara (15) caught behind.
Yuvraj and Sangakkara then steadied the innings before Mahela Jayawardene cracked a 19-ball 31 not out to help his team cross the 150-mark.