Wednesday, 12th September 2007 at 2:43 pm

Chris Gayle sets the World Cup alight

Feverpitcher got dragged off to Pink’s tour-ending Cape Town concert on Tuesday night, thus missing South Africa powering home to victory in the opening match of the Twenty20 World Cup; we managed to hold off departure until Chris Gayle had worked the ball back past the bowler to create international 20-over history with one of the most brutal displays of batting we’ve had the pleasure of seeing.

Gayle was hotly tipped to be a star of the 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean; turns out the pundits got the wrong World Cup. A dismal failure on home soil, Gayle started the Twenty20 tournament in much the same manner as Bryan Habana began the Rugby World Cup in France: a blistering display that demanded headlines, and made the game in question look just too easy.

There isn’t another player who looks quite so cool at the crease as Chris Gayle, lazy singles underlining an approach to batting that suggests he almost can’t be bothered… which is in stark contrast to his actual strokeplay. 10 sixes in a 55-ball 117 gave the tournament a high-octane start, and confirmed that when the mood takes him, Gayle can be one of the most dangerous men in the tournament. Feverpitcher suggests we haven’t seen the last of the big West Indian opener.