Gayle wants to keep good times rolling

Chris Gayle's impressive time as West Indies captain continued in Ireland © Getty Images

It was as emphatic a result as everyone expected, West Indies rolling Netherlands over at a decidedly chilly Clontarf, in Dublin, by 10 wickets. They were led by their captain, Chris Gayle, whose rollicking 51 took West Indies home in just the 15th over - on a low, slow, peaty surface with the Dublin Mountains looming in the distance.

"Yeah it was a slow track. Daren [Powell] has been bowling with a lot of pace in England and the adjustment did take a while here today. It was frustrating at the start, but regardless he came back well and he'll now know what is required for the rest of the games."

Powell wasn't quite as slippery as his 90mph performances in the recent one-day series against England, and struggled on a boggy pitch. Instead, it was Dwayne Smith's medium-pace wobblers which proved most effective, picking up 4 for 8 from his six overs. After restricting Netherlands to 80, Gayle was content with his side's performance.

"I'm happy, because we wanted to maintain the discipline in this game, and I thought the guys really lifted their standard," he said. "They did really well to restrict [Netherlands] to 80 and to get a 10-wicket win was superb."

Coming from the intensity of England, playing in front of large crowds and against an unpredictable team, the contrast here at Dublin couldn't be greater. A poor side, lacking confidence, and a crowd of no more than 50 die hard Irish fans (and one lone Jamaican). But Gayle said there was no danger of West Indies slipping on a potentially huge banana skin.

"No danger at all. When you look at the conditions - the wicket was really slow - the guys had to make adjustments and it was quite difficult at times. But they did well."

West Indies now face Scotland - a team Gayle admitted he knew precisely nothing about - on Thursday, and are still buoyed by their performance against England last week. "Yeah, looking forward to it. We're not taking anyone for granted; we're just here to play some good cricket and keep the standard very high.

"It's done a lot for us [beating England] and we just want to keep [the momentum going]," he said. "It's been a while since we've been in a winning mood - we have just won three games straight - so hopefully we can capitalise on the start and look forward to the future. We're just enjoying it - two more to go."

West Indies are clearly in no mood to let up their intensity. And while the opposition may not test his side's mettle to the limits, Gayle is continuing to prove he has more than sufficient nous as a captain, not to mention the support of his entire team. How often has it been possible to say that about a West Indian skipper?

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