Thee Universe Boss Chris Gayle smashed his first T20 International half-century in five years to propel the West Indies to a third straight victory over Australia in St Lucia on Monday night.

Struggling to find form since his return to the side following the IPL, Gayle smashed 67 from 38 balls as the West Indies cruised to victory with 31 balls to spare. Gayle also became the first batsman to score 14,000 T20 runs during his blistering knock that saw him smash four fours and seven sixes.

Acting captain Nicholas Pooran, who scored a relatively patient 32, hit consecutive fours to take the team to 142 for 4 which gave them an unassailable 3-0 lead.

RUNS DEDICATED TO TEAMMATES

“From a personal point of view, you all knew I was struggling with the bat, but to be get some runs today it’s very pleasing,” Gayle said. “I want to dedicate these runs to my teammates, especially Kieron Pollard. He gave me the pep talk I needed.”

Gayle made 288 runs in seven innings at an average of 41.14 in the 2020 IPL, before scoring 178 runs in eight knocks in the 2021 edition.

“Looking back, when I got back into the West Indies team against Sri Lanka, I was trying to play a different role, than play Chris Gayle himself,” Gayle said. “I didn’t get the runs but the guys rallied around me.”

Australia won the toss and elected to bat for the first time during the series and scored 141-6 from their 20 overs.

Moises Henriques top scored with 33 and there were also contributions from Matthew Wade (23), Aaron Finch (30) and Ashton Turner (24). However, none of them was able to carry on as disciplined bowling from Hayden Walsh Jr, who took 2-18 and a wicket each from Obed McCoy, Dwayne Bravo and Fabian Allen, kept them honest.

Pooran let out a scream of delight having led the side to three consecutive victories after he hit the winning runs. He praised the team for its collective efforts but had special praise for Gayle.

“Top game. We kept asking for improvement and tonight we came out and executed our plans with bat and ball,” he said.

“There’s a reason why Chris Gayle has 14,000 T20 runs, the greatest T20 batsman to play the game. Very pleased for him and the dressing room is going to be even more special after that innings.”

He said he was grateful to lead the team in the absence of Kieron Pollard who missed all three games so far with a hamstring injury.

“I’m very thankful and it’s something I didn’t dream of but this only happened because of this bunch of guys we have here,” he said.

“It’s a special group of guys and I can’t ask for better T20 cricketers around me. The experience and knowledge in that dressing room is too much and I’m thankful for the support, the support of Polly and all the other senior players. He’s my mentor and this is a special feeling for him as well. He’s someone who always wants to see me do well but he’s shared a lot of knowledge the last few days about how to go about bowling, batting, keeping the nerves and making decisions under pressure.”

He did not overlook the contributions of his bowlers, especially Allen and Walsh Jr.

“The hard work and the hunger of Fabian Allen and Hayden Walsh, both of them have been doing a lot of work.