Staff Reporter.
Australia closed in on a semi-final place at the Men’s T20 World Cup with an eight-wicket win over already eliminated West Indies in Abu Dhabi.
Chasing 158, David Warner made an unbeaten 89 and Mitch Marsh 53 as Australia won with 22 balls left.
West Indies made 157-7 with Kieron Pollard top-scoring with 44 and Josh Hazlewood taking 4-39.
Australia can still be eliminated if South Africa record a large victory over England at 14:00 GMT.
Today, might be the last we see of Chris Gayle in international cricket.
He treated the crowd to two sixes before being bowled by Pat Cummins for 15.
The 42-year-old has struggled in the World Cup, scoring 55 runs in five innings, and now has one half-century in his last 31 Twenty20 international innings.
He walked off with his bat and helmet raised to the crowd and was embraced by his team-mates on the boundary.
Gayle returned with multiple parts of his kits and was signing items and handing them to the crowd in the clearest sign yet that he will call time on a glistening career that has brought him almost 20,000 international runs.
West Indies, abject with the bat in this tournament, produced a much improved performance against Australia, taking 50 off the six-over powerplay and 58 in the final five overs.
However, there were also 49 dot balls, and the fact Andre Russell faced only seven deliveries for his unbeaten 23 – including sixes off the last two balls of the innings – raised questions over their approach and batting order.
West Indies were sloppy in the field and the match had come to resemble a friendly long before the smiling Gayle was afforded a ceremonial over of off-spin in which he had Marsh taken at mid-off, then ran to give him a hug as he left the field.
Dwayne Bravo, the most successful bowler in T20 history, made 10 and took 0-36 in his final game for West Indies.
By finishing fifth in Group 1 of the Super 12, defending champions West Indies must now qualify for next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
West Indies captain Kieron Pollard: “We have not done well at all. Overall we weren’t good enough but it is the end of a generation. We have some guys in our dressing room who have done good things in T20 cricket.
“We have to look at the way we play T20 cricket. Our team was set up for hitters to do the damage but we weren’t able to do that. We have got to rebuild and start over.”
Australia captain Aaron Finch: “We held our nerve. Warner is a super player and has been for a long time. A lot of people doubted him and I can’t understand why.
“We have to wait for the South Africa v England game and have our fingers crossed. If it doesn’t go our way we can hold our head high that we have won four out of five.”
Australia batter David Warner: “It felt satisfying to be there at the end and hit the winning runs that will hopefully get us through to the semi-finals.
“I just played my natural game, targeting the bowlers up front. Mitch Marsh came in and played an outstanding knock as well.”