Cricket World Cup: Erratic Gayle personifies the danger Windies pose

Jerome Taylor (left) and Dwayne Smith clash during a warm-up game of football at training yesterday. Photo / Mark Mitchell

In a nominee for quote of the World Cup, Chris Gayle suggested, possibly tongue-in-cheek, that he scored a double century against Zimbabwe because he had "cut down on the parties".

He reinforced his nonchalant ethos by posting a photo of the team filing en masse into Burger King after the win over the United Arab Emirates accompanied by the droll tweet: "Seriously! Plz eat properly guys ... anyway, order 2 long chicken chilli with cheese for me."

This casual brilliance is nothing new. On the 2008-09 tour to New Zealand, Gayle achieved the extraordinary feat of wearing sunglasses for an entire evening at one function.

He personifies a West Indian approach which makes them perilous opposition in Wellington on Saturday.

New Zealand will scout and plan meticulously for this quarter-final examination, but it's impossible to fully prepare for a Caribbean team who are consistently inconsistent.

All-rounder Darren Sammy summed up the West Indies' three-loss, three-win tournament record yesterday: "We've not played our best cricket, we've been so inconsistent, but we have an opportunity to play in a quarter-final. If we improve 20 or even 40 per cent, we can be up there with anybody else.

"We're not supposed to be here, but here we are. The pressure is on the home team, how are they going to win?" He drew on a heavyweight boxing upset as a comparison.

"I remember a guy called James Douglas beating Mike Tyson."

Nothing exemplifies the West Indies' oscillating form better than their top four, led by Gayle. In a total of 23 innings, just three (Gayle's 215 off 47 balls v Zimbabwe along with Johnson Charles' 55 off 40 and Dwayne Smith's 15 off nine v UAE) came at better than a run-a-ball; four innings reached 50.

Contrast that with New Zealand whose top four, in 24 innings, have seven scores of 50 or more and 11 instances of 100-plus strike rates.

Gayle, 35, exemplifies the "rocks and diamonds" philosophy best. He is this generation's Caribbean answer to George Headley, Frank Worrell, Garry Sobers, Viv Richards and Brian Lara, but he is becoming less reliable.

His double century was the second time he had passed 50 in 20 ODI innings since June 2013. Before Canberra he had innings of 36 against Ireland and four versus Pakistan. Afterwards he scored three against South Africa and 21 versus India. His strike rate against Zimbabwe was 146; in the other matches it is 58. A back injury saw him rested against the UAE. An injection is expected to see him pass muster for Saturday.

Charles' credible half-century, after replacing Gayle against the UAE, means the place of Dwayne Smith, Gayle's usual partner, is under threat.

3 things about the West Indies
• In 23 innings from the West Indies' top four at this World Cup, just three came at better than a run-a-ball; four reached 50. In 24 innings New Zealand's top four have seven scores of 50 or more and 11 instances of 100-plus strike rates.

• Chris Gayle's double century against Zimbabwe was the second time he had passed 50 in 20 one-day international innings since June 2013. His strike rate against Zimbabwe was 146; in the other matches this tournament it is 58.

• 173 ODI veteran Marlon Samuels made 133 off 156 balls against Zimbabwe, but his last three innings have resulted in 11 runs from 34 balls.