Gayle in a hurry for careless Windies

Chris Gayle struck eight fours and two sixes in his fluent 41-ball 63, laying the foundations for West Indies' pursuit

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West Indies wrapped up a 4-1 one-day series win over Zimbabwe courtesy of a far from convincing victory in St Vincent.

Although Chris Gayle’s side overhauled a meagre target of 162 with 22.2 overs to spare, they did so with just four wickets in hand.

They had earlier impressed in the field, bowling Zimbabwe out off the last ball of their innings thanks to Darren Sammy’s 3-33.

Charles Coventry, who made 56, was the only Zimbabwe batsman to score more than 19, while Gayle himself spearheaded West Indies’ initially untroubled chase with a destructive 63 off 41 balls and Kieron Pollard helped complete the job with 36 off 20.

Zimbabwe recovered from a woeful start to post a total which at least tested the hosts.

Reeling on 25 for five after Sammy struck three times and Ravi Rampaul twice in the opening 16 overs, the chances of Zimbabwe reaching three figures appeared slim, but Coventry marshalled a lower-order recovery of sorts.

Although Coventry’s measured 88-ball innings contained just five fours, he helped add 38 for the sixth wicket with Elton Chigumbura and 57 for the seventh with Greg Lamb, who made 19 and 16 respectively.

George Cremer’s unbeaten 19 helped overcome the loss of Coventry - run out by Dwayne Bravo, displaying smart football skills, as he attempted to get back on strike - and Adrian Barath fell cheaply in West Indies’ chase to give Zimbabwe early heart.

Gayle, however, hurried West Indies along with a 32-ball fifty. He hit eight fours and two sixes in all during a typically entertaining innings.

Darren Bravo contributed just 14 to a second-wicket stand of 76 which was broken when Gayle lifted opposite number Prosper Utseya to long-off, the first of his two wickets.

Narsingh Deonarine and Dwayne Bravo fell in the space of three balls to cause some concern in the West Indies camp, but Pollard flayed three fours and three sixes while Denesh Ramdin provided a steadier hand with an unbeaten 21.