Chris Gayle hammered his 23rd one-day international hundred to lead the West Indies to victory in their opening World Cup qualifier against the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, while Afghanistan collapsed to defeat by Zimbabwe. Windies opening batsman Gayle struck 11 sixes in a blistering 91-ball 123 in Harare as the two-time World Cup winners racked up 357-4 in their Group A clash, with the UAE falling 60 runs short.
Afghanistan's hopes of taking one of the last two places for next year's tournament in England and Wales are hanging by a thread, after following Sunday's shock loss to Scotland with an agonising two-run defeat by the hosts. Elsewhere, Ireland and Scotland both made it two wins from two by seeing off Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong respectively.
The 38-year-old Gayle became only the third batsman in ODI history after Hashim Amla and Sachin Tendulkar to score hundreds against 11 different countries. After captain Jason Holder elected to bat first, Gayle quickly got into his stride alongside big-hitting youngster Evin Lewis in an opening partnership of 88.
Lewis fell for 31, but Shimron Hetmyer outdid even Gayle, plundering 127 to score his maiden international ton. The UAE, who had beaten Papua New Guinea in their opening match, never threatened a famous run chase after slipping to 69-3, but an excellent unbeaten 112 from Rameez Shahzad carried them to a respectable 297-6. Windies skipper Holder ensured his side got off to a winning start, taking 5-53 after fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell's day was cut short by injury.
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