Wounded Gayle swings hard in Wellington

A wounded Chris Gayle has gone down swinging as the West Indies' 2015 World Cup campaign came to grinding halt against New Zealand in Wellington.

Chasing an improbable 394 for victory, Gayle top scored with 61 from 33 balls, an innings that featured two fours and eight sixes.

Quick Single: NZ thrash Windies, reach semi-finals

Gayle's eight maximums took him to 26 for the tournament, the most by any batsman in a single World Cup and six clear of South Africa's captain AB de Villiers in second place on the 2015 leaderboard.

Gayle now has 238 sixes in his ODI career, the third most of all time.

Image Id: ~/media/1752E26A021B4815AEE795D89556640C

Gayle launches a six straight down the ground // Getty

Ninety-two per cent of Gayle's runs in Wellington came in boundaries, meaning he fell just short of Brendon McCullum's World Cup record of 96.10 per cent against England earlier in the tournament. It is the seventh-highest percentage of boundaries in an innings in ODI history.

It was one of only two occasions in the tournament Gayle has scored more than 40, the first being his record-breaking 215 against Zimbabwe in Canberra.

Sixteen of Gayle's 26 sixes for the tournament came in the match against Zimbabwe.

The left-hander's innings against the Black Caps came despite the obvious discomfort of a back injury that had him in doubt right up until the morning of the match.

Gayle missed the Windies' clash with the UAE last Sunday due to the injury and had barely trained with his team all week, but bravely took his place in the side.

Image Id: ~/media/7622305BAB674BD0AC3CF79C94AEB1C0

Gayle hits one of his eight sixes // Getty

Having watched his bowlers be smashed all over the park during New Zealand's innings of 6-393, Gayle decided to do some smashing of his own as he and his teammates took a high-risk approach to the run chase.

The highlight was the three consecutive sixes he launched off Daniel Vettori's first over, ensuring New Zealand's risky move of bringing on their spinner inside the first 10 overs was short-lived.

In between the boundary assault, Gayle limped and hobbled his way between wickets whenever he was called through for a run, his back clearly giving him discomfort.

He was eventually bowled off an inside edge by impressive Black Caps paceman Adam Milne.

Image Id: ~/media/9FDE13BC212A467A8FD046B165F6737B

Gayle is cleaned up by Adam Milne // Getty

Gayle's injury is a long-standing one and he conceded earlier this month that it could bring a premature end to his Test career.

"It is a possibility. You never know," Gayle said when asked if Test retirement was on the cards.

"After the World Cup we will see what happens. Where Chris Gayle will actually head. Or you can sit and discuss and work out how we go about playing for West Indies cricket.

"I do (feel passionate about playing Test cricket), to be honest with you.

"It is just that lately this back problem has kind of pushed me away a bit from Test cricket.

"To be able to go five days, it has been tough.

"I haven't sorted my situation yet, which is the back problem.

"That is another concern ... because I've been playing cricket straight on the road and really didn't get a chance to spend the time and give the back as much time to heal.

"People say surgery (is the answer) but they say once you have surgery on your back basically your career can be over.

"It would never be the same as well. Lot of thinking then."

The West Indies' next assignment will be a home three-Test series against England before Australia travel to the Caribbean for a two-Test series in May and June. 

The Windies will face their post-Cup assignments with a new coach after it was announced former allrounder and Ireland coach Phil Simmons had signed a three-year deal.

Quick Single: Simmons named new Windies coach