Gayle unleashes to destroy England

The match in a tweet: Chris Gayle blows England away with a 47-ball century as he smashes 11 sixes, sets new world records and sends the World T20 into meltdown

The hero: Make what you will of his off-field exploits but there is simply no denying that Chris Gayle is an irresistible force and a captivating spectacle when batting. On his way to scoring an unbeaten 100 and condemning England to a six-wicket defeat, Gayle became the leading six-hitter in T20 international cricket. It seemed incredible he didn't already hold the record. At the start of his innings he was four sixes behind Brendon McCullum's record, by the end of it he was seven ahead. He also became the first man to score two World T20 hundreds. And to make it all the better, he called it before the match started! 

The support cast: None was needed with the bat, this was all about the Chris Gayle show. But that England's innings was kept to a chase-able 182 owed much to the West Indian bowlers clever use of the slower ball. Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo each picked up two wickets – including with the off-pace delivery that proved so difficult for the England batsmen to firstly detect, and then counter. Russell induced Joe Root to spoon up a catch after mistiming a swipe while Ben Stokes was pinned on the foot plumb in front after misjudging Bravo's change-up.

The talking point: There's plenty to mull over for England. The batting was serviceable but they were proved to be some 20 or more runs short. However the bowling is the real area of concern. The injury to Steven Finn is a big blow. But while England seem to pin much of their hopes on the leg-spin of Adil Rashid, fine-tuned for T20 cricket in last summer's Big Bash League, he bowled just two overs to the West Indies.

The consolation effort: Root's 48 led England's scoring and Jos Buttler showed he has the game to be a force in this format. England accumulated without really unveiling much in the way of fireworks for much of their innings yet still reached 182. With a heavy dew on the ball – so much so that they brought out the Supper Soppers for a quick clean-up midway through the West Indies innings – it was always going to be tough batting first. England's path out of the Super 10 stage is more difficult but they're not done yet.

The stat: 98 sixes in T20 international cricket. That's how many Chris Gayle has next to his name after West Indies' first game of the World T20. It's 19 more than the next highest active player, with Australia's Shane Watson having hit 79 in his career. Gayle added 11 sixes against England. It was also Gayle's first T20 for the West Indies in 14 months. His last three innings for the Windies are 100*, 90 and 77 – all in run chases, all West Indies victories.

The wash-up: Critics (see the notoriously fickle Fleet Street press) will be quick to write England's campaign off after a solitary defeat in a tough group. It may yet pan out that way with South Africa, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan to come. For the West Indies, this performance will revive memories of their 2012 World T20 triumph. Can a disparate group of excellent T20 individuals come together as a team?

The next stop: England have the luxury of avoiding travel, and will remain in Mumbai for their next match, and they don't have much time to turn things around – their next match is against a powerhouse South Africa outfit in the early hours of Saturday morning (AEDT). The West Indies have a longer break until their next match – they face defending champions Sri Lanka in Bangalore on Monday morning (AEDT).