Gayle: I gave it my all
West Indies captain Chris Gayle defied pain and injury on Saturday in a bid to keep the team alive in the fourth Test against South Africa at the Sahara Park, Newlands.Despite having sustained a fractured left thumb and still feeling pain from his strained left hamstring, Gayle heroically took to the crease and made a blazing 38, with four fours and three sixes. He later held two brilliant, one-handed catches at slip, but the West Indies lost the match by seven wickets.
"I just decided that I would go out there and give it my all. We were in with a chance so I knew I had to get out there. It was a very good game. Both teams played every well. It could have gone either way but unfortunately we came out on the wrong end," he said after the match."We lost one of our strike bowlers (Fidel Edwards) early in the match and the other guys really put their hands up and played some decent cricket. What we have to do from here is seize all the opportunities and once we get on top we must not let them back into the game. The guys can be proud of the effort."
Gayle suffered the fracture in the morning session on Saturday when he was hit by a short ball. He was taken to a local medical facility where he received X Rays. On his return he featured in a stand of 70 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who batted five hours and faced 168 balls for his 70 not out. This follows scores of 104, 8 and 65 not out.
The series is now level 1-1. The West Indies won the first match at Sahara Oval, St George's; Port Elizabeth by 128 runs. The final match will be at Sahara Stadium, Kingsmead; Durban on January 10-14.