England win despite Gayle's six-a-thon

Chris Gayle smashed the ball out of the ground so often, it had to be replaced at least half a dozen times.

But the Herculean efforts of the West Indies' self-titled Universe Boss weren't enough to deny a record-breaking England victory in their opening one-day international, powered by Jason Roy and Joe Root centuries.

Roy made 123 and Root 102 as the visitors blasted 4-364 to win with eight balls to spare and take a 1-0 lead in the five-game series in front of a near-capacity crowd at Kensington Oval in Barbados.

England's highest successful run chase in one-dayers was aided by some sloppy Windies fielding and several dropped catches.

Gayle had earlier belted 12 sixes in his 135 to help them to a daunting 8-360, their highest one-day international score against England.

The umpires had to repeatedly replace the ball after his towering sixes landed outside the stadium, including one that measured 121 metres.

West Indies smashed a word record 23 sixes in total. New Zealand held the previous record of 22 against West Indies in 2014.

Gayle was dropped on nine by Roy, who said the missed chance had been at the back of his mind when he took the crease.

"You want to step up a bit and do something good for the team," said Roy, who more than made amends by compiling his score in only 85 balls in a match-winning knock.

"It was a nice (batting) surface. We were chasing a big total, so it was quite daunting at the start."

Roy laid a foundation for Root to all but take England across the line with a stylish innings based on stroke-making and astute placement of the ball.

Root was denied hitting the winning run when caught on the boundary with the scores tied and left to a standing ovation.

Captain Eoin Morgan chimed in with 65.

"We went about the chase well, with a short side (boundary) and a howling wind," said Morgan, who felt the conditions and placid pitch made the chase slightly easier than the target score.

Windies captain Jason Holder lamented his team's fielding.

"We didn't bowl as well as we would have liked and didn't help ourselves in the field," he said.

"Our energy and body language in the field wasn't up to scratch today. We've got to pull up our socks."

The second match will be played on the same ground on Friday.