Sleeping giant Gayle ready to wake

Chris Gayle hopes to smash another century when West Indies return to the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday for their World Twenty20 semi-final against India.

Gayle's 47-ball century against England gave West Indies a winning momentum in the tournament before Afghanistan broke the three-match winning sequence of the 2012 champion on a turning wicket at Nagpur.

"This is a perfect opportunity to actually start the tournament and try and pick up where I left off, get a big one for the team and put them in a winning position," Gayle said on Tuesday.

A niggling hamstring injury denied Gayle a chance to bat against Sri Lanka and lasted just two deliveries against South Africa, flicking the first for four before being bowled by Protea quick Kagiso Rabada.

With a spot in the semi-final assured, the Jamaican was rested for the West Indies' final group match against Afghanistan.

The short square boundaries and batting-friendly pitches in Mumbai suit the power hitting of Gayle, as the West Indies raced to 4-183 against England with 11 balls to spare.

South Africa also twice scored more than 200 at the Wankhede Stadium, with opponents England then achieving the second-highest-ever successful chase of 8-230 and Afghanistan putting up a brisk start before losing by 37 runs in pursuit of 210.

In the absence of at least two key players - leg-spinner Sunil Narine and allrounder Kieron Pollard - West Indies have ousted South Africa and defending champion Sri Lanka from the tournament.

"That goes to show the strength of West Indies cricket back home," Gayle said. "The guys who actually replaced the first picks, someone like Carlos Brathwaite, he won us the game against South Africa ... and the bench is still strong enough."

Gayle said that the six-run defeat to Afghanistan has only increased the motivation of West Indies to do well in the semifinal.

"The only positive you can look from the Afghanistan game is the motive," Gayle said.

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"We saw India bounce back from losing games as well, so it can put us in a strong position as well to actually lift our game and do better on Thursday."

Virat Kohli has been key in guiding the host into the semi-finals with his two masterful half centuries against arch-rival Pakistan and an unbeaten 82 off 51 balls in the do-or-die last group match against Australia.

But Gayle was not surprised by the sublime form of India's master middle-order batsman, who has scored 184 runs at an impressive average of 92.00.

"No surprise there," he said. "I have said it over the years he is going to be the world-beater he is today.

"He has been fantastic right through the year. He has been in a great form. He can still get runs but in a losing cause. We'll be happy with that as well."