Jamaica Gleaner
Published: Wednesday | June 10, 2009
Home : Sport
Gayle doubtful through injury
NOTTINGHAM, England (CMC):

Chris Gayle faces being a possible non-starter for West Indies' final group match against Sri Lanka today in the World Twenty20 Championship.

The West Indies captain is still hobbled, after he was struck on his right knee by a delivery from Mitchell Johnson during his swashbuckling 88 against Australia at The Oval last Saturday.

"I'm carrying a bit of an injury and I don't know if I might be playing yet, so it's a situation that we need to look at," said Gayle.

"When I was batting (on Saturday) I didn't feel it. But the next day, I couldn't walk properly and I'm just trying to get back in my stride now.

"The knee is swollen a lot and bruised a lot, so let's see what happens."

Gayle's mobility has improved and he even tried to bat during West Indies' training session on the eve of the match. But West Indies do not have to risk the big left-hander, since they and the Sri Lankans face no pressure in the match, having already qualified for the next stage of the Championship, after knocking Australia out of the competition.

Gain momentum

They may still prefer to have him fit and in the line-up, so that they can gain some momentum ahead of the Super Eights.

West Indies have been identified as one of the favourites in the competition and they would not want to scupper their chances at the expense of expediency.

"We know we have a team that can beat the best, but in Twenty20 it all depends on how one plays on a given day," said Gayle.

"We take it one match at a time. We definitely want to beat Sri Lanka, which will raise the team's confidence for the Super Eights."

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has warned that he is eager to shatter the dreams of some more teams in the competition, and West Indies are one of the teams that are now clearly in his sights.

"This was the only group that had three Test-playing nations in it, so to come out of it pretty well is a huge bonus," he said.

"Both West Indies and us have made the Super Eights, so the pressure will no doubt be a bit less. But international cricket is serious business, there is no question of taking it easy."

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