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Aussies seek Gayle force World Cup answers

3 minute read

Australia's quicks must work out how to stop Chris Gayle in their West Indies World Cup clash, given he's hitting a six from one in every 10 balls he faces.

CHRIS GAYLE of West Indies batting during the Group Stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between West Indies and Pakistan at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, England.
CHRIS GAYLE of West Indies batting during the Group Stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between West Indies and Pakistan at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, England. Picture: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

It's the problem Australia's bowlers must solve by Thursday: how to stop a man who clears the boundary once in every 10 balls he faces.

Some 20 years after his one-day debut for the West Indies in 1999, Chris Gayle is still the must-stop batter from the resurgent side from the Caribbean.

And the 39-year-old is showing no signs of letting up headed into his retirement after the tournament.

He has hit a ridiculous 104 sixes from 1060 balls in one-dayers since midway through the last World Cup, at a strike rate of one every 10.19 balls.

Of his past 289 runs in one-dayers, 234 of them have come from boundaries.

He'll also meet Australia on arguably the world's best batting ground, with the average run-rate of 6.67 at Trent Bridge over the past five years the highest of any regular ODI venue.

"It is always a great challenge playing against Mr Worldwide, or whatever he calls himself, Universe Boss," Aussie quick Pat Cummins said.

"He is obviously a class act and keeps hitting sixes whenever he plays.

"I've played against him quite a bit in T20 but never an ODI against him but they have got lots of pretty exciting players.

"Trent Bridge is a pretty small ground so I am sure it is going to be one of the more high-scoring ones."

Gayle whacked 50 from just 34 balls last week against Pakistan at Trent Bridge, although he appeared to hurt his back in the seven-wicket win.

The opener's record against Australia, however, is less impressive.

He hasn't faced the Aussies in an ODI since 2013, and averages just 26.73 in 31 matches against the defending champions without a century.

Sheer pace has been his biggest Achilles heel, with Brett Lee claiming his prized scalp seven times - including on three occasions for a duck.

And it's there where Australia might have the edge, with Cummins and Mitchell Starc close to the quickest opening bowling combination in the tournament.

Short balls will also be an option against Gayle and the entire West Indies' batting line-up, as has become the theme of this World Cup for the quicks.

"With our pace and bounce, I feel like that's a really good wicket-taking ball or a dot ball," Cummins said.

"It is going to be a risk if a batter is trying to play that every time. I am sure we are going to keep being aggressive with it."

Australia trained on Tuesday for the first time in Nottingham, where the message from their coaches on how to contend with Gayle would have been simple.

"Bowl your best ball," assistant Brad Haddin said.

"He's obviously got a lot of power ... but you have got to make sure he's making decisions off our best ball.

"We've got a couple of really good bowlers up front so it will be a good contest."

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