Gayle's brilliance inspires West Indies

Tony Becca, Contributor

Christopher Gayle may not be the captain of the West Indies but he played like he was while leading his colleagues one by one and piloting his team to a wonderful performance in the first Test match against Sri Lanka.

At the beginning, no one believed that the West Indies would even push Sri Lanka, but at the end they, the team ranked number three in the world, were fighting for survival as they battled under the weight of the Windies' massive total.

And the total was all because of Gayle's brilliance.

After captain Darren Sammy had won the toss and elected to bat, Gayle, 333; Adrian Barath, 50; Daren Bravo, 58; Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 32; and Brendan Nash, 64; carried them to 580 for nine declared after sitting pretty on 559 for three before, in a flashback to the recent past, they stumbled and lost six wickets for 21 runs.

The West Indies did not win the Test match, but after dismissing Sri Lanka for 378, the home team was embarrassed and managed only a draw, probably because of rain.

The team which includes Tilakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews, and Prasanna Jayawardene in their line-up, was asked to follow on.

Gayle, the man who faced 437 deliveries and struck nine sixes, the most by any West Indian in a Test innings, and 34 fours, was truly magnificent.

He started quietly, taking 19 deliveries to get off the mark before he opened up with four boundaries in two overs off pacer Thilan Thurshara. And then he went to town scoring 219 with eight sixes and 26 fours off 247 deliveries out of 362 for two on the first day.

On the second day, he changed gear. He settled in to add another 114 runs, with one six and eight fours off 190 deliveries.

It was as if he was playing to a plan, as if he wanted to bat forever.

At the end, Gayle batted himself into the company of the greats.

Apart from reeling off his top score, he scored his second triple century to join Don Bradman, Brian Lara, and Virender Sehwag. He became the fifth highest scorer playing away from home in a Test match, only behind Hanif Mohammad, 337, Wally Hammond, 336, Mark Taylor, 334 not out, and Don Bradman 334; and, as a matter of note, he became the highest scorer against Sri Lanka, beating Younis Khan's 313.

Some will say that the retired Chaminda Vaas, his bogeyman, and Muttiah Muralitheran were not there, neither was the injured Lasith Malinga, and they are right.

Others, however, will counter that Ajantha Mendis was there, and that he is class, real class.

They too, are right.

Most fans, however, will ask why is it that Gayle bats the way he does, happy and carefree one day, it appears; serious and responsible the next.

No one but Gayle can answer that. One thing is certain: his 13 centuries from 89 Test matches and an average of 42.26 do not do justice to his talent, to his amazing power and timing.

Bats with a plan

When he bats like he did while scoring 116 runs off 120 deliveries against South Africa in Cape Town in 2004; when he bats like he did while scoring 107 runs off 87 deliveries, including six fours in one over from Matthew Hoggard, against England at Lord's in 2004; and when he bats like he did while scoring 102 runs off 72 deliveries against Australia at Perth in 2008, as deadly as it is, the opposition has a chance.

When he bats with a plan, however, when he paces his innings, when he leads his colleagues as he did while scoring 317 in 630 minutes while facing 402 deliveries against South Africa in St John's in 2005, as he did, before he was the eighth batsman out at 342, while scoring 197 against New Zealand in Napier in 2008, as he did while scoring 104 off 193 deliveries against England in 2009, and as he did when he scored 163 not out off 285 deliveries against Australia in Adelaide in 2009 while batting through an innings of 317, the opposition hardly has a chance.

Gayle bats the way he likes to bat, the way he enjoys batting, but every time I see him bat, and I see him get out cheaply, I remember the little boy at Kensington Oval in Barbados and his advice to Lawrence Rowe on the evening in 1974 after he was dismissed for 302, caught in the deep by Geoff Arnold in the deep off Tony Greig.

Tired

As Rowe left the ground, the little boy, standing by the gate, said he should have batted on and surpass Garry Sobers' then world record of 365 not out.

Rowe said he was tired.

"Tired? All you had to do was stop the good balls and hit the bad ones," answered the little boy.

Rowe never reached such heights again, although no one has ever scored three triple centuries. Hopefully Gayle will, and whether or not, hopefully he will lead the West Indies batting many, many more times.

Will the West Indies go on to win the second Test? No one knows, but one thing is sure, it will need some improvement in the bowling, some improvement in the catching, and also some improvement in the contribution of the captain.

As Ian Bishop said during the match, "The captain has to do more than clap and encourage the players."