West Indies innings
The West Indies very nearly handed the advantage right back. Chris Gayle, whose form has slumped dramatically since the glory days of the Champions' Trophy, got out in the third over in a fashion identical to his dismissal by Ajit Agarkar in the warm-up game against India at the Trelawny Stadium the other day.
To a good length delivery from Umar Gul, Gayle opted to stay back; as it bounced and seamed, he opened the bat face and ran the ball off the bat face into the slips; as Dhoni did the other day, Kamran Akmal lunged to his left to hold (Gayle 2/6; Windies 7/1 in 2.1).
It is a curious aberration, Gayle's: the batsman has a rep for plonking his front foot forward and using his immense reach and power to slam the ball through the line. This business of staying back to length is a disease of recent vintage, and he needs to find the cure before the next phase of the competiton if he is to power Windies to the sort of starts he used to in his pomp.
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