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West Indies captain Chris Gayle struck a powerful 98 to lead his team to a 14-run victory over India in the Twenty20 World Cup in front of a wildly celebrating home crowd on Sunday.West Indies can reach the semi-finals with victory over Australia Tuesday but defeat left India facing almost certain elimination after their second loss in the Super Eight stage.Gayle played with a combination of prudence and power, his 66-ball knock ending when he was run out in the final over, two short of what would have been his second century in a Twenty20 international.The total of 169 was a challenging one and India were never up with the run-rate despite a good knock of 32 from Suresh Raina and an aggressive 29 from 18 balls from skipper M.S. Dhoni."The batting hasn't been up to expectations. The bowlers have done decently, give or take a few overs here and there but batting is supposed to be our strength, and we should chase 170 in these conditions," Dhoni told reporters.MEMORABLE AFTERNOONIt was a memorable afternoon for the home side and Caribbean cricket's clock turned back as sixes flew from the bat of the West Indian captain and the noisy local crowd stood to cheer bouncers from pace bowlers."The support has been tremendous, we had to come out and give the crowd something to cheer otherwise I am sure stones would have been thrown," said Gayle, who went into the game under some pressure.Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul batted with caution in the early stages on a dampish wicket that was turning, particularly for Harbhajan Singh, but they shared an opening partnership of 80 before the latter fell for 23.Darren Sammy (19) and Kieron Pollard (17) made useful, up-tempo contributions in support of Gayle, who struck seven sixes.India quickly found themselves in trouble at 38 for three, with Rohit Sharma's dismissal causing controversy as he claimed his caught behind came off his arm.Sharma argued his case at the crease, asking for a television replay, and is likely to face punishment.It was not just the pace bowlers, Kemar Roach and Jerome Taylor, who peppered the Indians with short stuff with medium-pacers Dwayne Bravo and Sammy also making use of the bouncer."They are always going to be vulnerable against the short ball, every team has done it against them and it is something they will have to look at and try to prepare better," Gayle said.(Editing by Ed Osmond, To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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