West Indies swept aside

KOLKATA, India (CMC) — West Indies’ batting failed miserably as they slumped to a 45-run defeat to hosts India in their opening official warm-up match of the Twenty20 World Cup at Eden Gardens here yesterday.

Chasing a challenging 186 for victory, only opener Chris Gayle was good enough to reach the 20s as the Caribbean side were bundled out for 140 in the final over.

The left-handed Gayle got exactly 20 from 11 balls and fellow Jamaican Andre Russell was the next best scorer with 19 from 13 deliveries.

West Indies’ run chase was ruined by left-arm spinners Pawan Negi (2-15) and Ravindra Jadeja (2-26), along with seamers Hardik Pandya (2-25) and Mohammed Shami (2-30), all of whom took two wickets each.

India had earlier tallied 185 for six from their 20 overs with opener Rohit Sharma narrowly missing out on three figures with an unbeaten 98.