Chris Gayle, Chris Gayle We Love You: Windies Star Receive Heartwarming Reception After Blowing England Away In Final ODI On Caribbean Soil

When Chris Gayle walked off the field for one last time on the Caribbean soil after demolishing England in the fifth and final ODI, the crowd started chanting a line that very much reflected almost every cricket fans’ mindset. As Gayle made his way to the dressing room, he was welcomed with the chant – ‘ Chris Gayle, Chris Gayle we love you’, a rendition of famous song ‘We will rock you’.

Gayle was walking back after smashing a record-breaking fifty in St Lucia. The self-proclaimed Universe Boss reached his 50 off just 19 balls, which is the fastest by a Windies player, as Windies thrashed the visitors by seven wickets to draw the five-match series. Put in to bat first on a tough and bouncy pitch, England, the best-ranked ODI side, were all out for just 113 in 28.1 overs. In reply, Windies chased down the total in just 12.1 overs to inflict the heaviest defeat on the visitors in terms of balls left in the innings.

Gayle, who will retire from ODIs after the upcoming World Cup, was the destructor-in-chief, smashing 77 off just 27 balls. The knock contained nine sixes as he took his tally to a mind-boggling 39 in just four innings of this series.

And as Gayle made his way out of the ground after being castled by Mark Wood, the fans gave him a fitting farewell. Here is a clip showing that beautiful moment:

9 sixes and 5 fours
77 off 27 balls.

That’s what I came to see!!!

Thank you @henrygayle pic.twitter.com/xHsdM0LpHF

— Olly Foster (@OllyFoster) March 2, 2019

Speaking at the end of the game while receiving the Man of the Series award, Gayle said:

“Man of the Series at age 39, come on youngsters what’s happening (laughs). It’s a fantastic series. To be able to tie the series 2-2, both teams played well. Today our bowlers were fantastic. Oshane with his first five-wicket haul, Carlos was brilliant. And the captain and Cottrell as well. Sometimes as a batter you’re weary of small totals. So as I was padding up, I thought about putting them under pressure early.”

Sometimes you’ve got to change it up a bit, because the bowlers would work you out otherwise. Mark Wood was brilliant for them. He bowled fast and was a wicket-taker for them in this series. At one stage I thought is this going to be my last innings for Windies in the Caribbean. Another good turnout today. We will get a bit of respect going into the World Cup. If we get it right as a unit, we can create some damage in the World Cup. We’re very capable of winning games in England,” he added.