Gayle is the legend of the game: Buttler
England vs West Indies.-CWI
||Desk Report||
England Jos Buttler believed that Gayle is the legend of the game and added that he never saw anyone hit sixes as easy as the Caribbean can.
"It's a great dress rehearsal, with lots of pressure. But it just goes to show, no matter who's favourite, on any given day there will be unbelievable games of cricket, and if Chris Gayle is in the opposition, you can lose those games. I've probably never seen anyone hit sixes as easy as he can. He's a legend of the game," Buttler said after the end of the match.
"We needed wickets all the time because we felt that if Gayle batted long enough they'd win the game, which is incredible when you've got 420 on the board," added the wicketkeeper-batsman.
England won the 806-run-game against West Indies, beating the hosts by 29 runs in fourth ODI and took the five-match series lead 2-1 in Grenada on Wednesday. England scored the highest total of 418 for 6 as Jos Buttler knocked 150 off 77 and skipper Eoin Morgan 103 for 88 balls. In reply, West Indies scored 389 all out. Chris Gayle blazed with 162 off 97 hitting 14 sixes and 11 fours.
The veteran batsman touched a landmark hitting 506 sixes in total 446 matches including 305-ODI-sixer and joined 10,000-run-club in ODIs. The Caribbean now has 10074-run, behind Brian Lara, who heads the Windies chart on 10,348, and has struck 305 sixes. Even, Gayle added a record third-wicket stand of 176 with Darren Bravo – who smashed 61 off 59 balls in his 101 ODI.
England have been billed the favourites for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, but Buttler said that the competitive nature of the series in the Caribbean offered a reality check: that on any given day, teams can spring upsets at the World Cup.
“It was hectic. I'm trying to catch my breath. It was an unbelievable game of cricket. I think as a side, being put under a huge amount of pressure in a game like that, we showed a huge amount of character to come through it,” Butler said.
On the other hand, Gayle also showered praise on the England batsman for his match-winning potential. "Buttler is superb," he said. "You can't take away the fact that he's one of the best strikers in the world today. But he's not close to the Universe Boss though.
"But he's a youngster, he'll get there eventually. He's showcased his talent all round the world. He's a game changer, a game-winner, any team needs a Buttler in their team to win them games. He's a superb player, he's been in superb form from the last IPL, and he's done this for England for some time. He's a key player, batted superbly well and took the game away from us," Gayle added.
