EMBATTLED West Indies opener Christopher Gayle, struck a whirlwind 147,the first for this year’s Regional Super 50 tournament for Jamaica who went on to defeat a hapless looking Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) by 134 runs in their second round Group ‘B’ fixture at the Everest Cricket Club ground yesterday.
Play got underway two hours and 45 minutes late due to a soggy boundary area at the North Eastern side of the ground, but those who had graced the venue with their presence to watch the talismanic opener bat, were not disappointed as he struck 11 fours and eight sixes in his 110 balls 147, as Jamaica reached 259 for 3 from their 37 overs.
The University team, already without the services of player/coach Floyd Reifer, who returned to Barbados yesterday morning for personal reasons, replied with 125 for 5 from their 37 overs, with Ryan Wiggins hitting a resilient and unbeaten 52 while Jamal Smith also contributed an unbeaten 26.  
Krishmar Santokie and Odean Browne took two wickets each for 16 and 35 runs respectively for Jamaica, but it was the 32 year old Gayle who treated the crowd on hand to his batting ability that was enjoyed by the Indians during the recently concluded Champions League.
He took 65 deliveries to get to his first half century which was decorated with five fours and one six, reaching same with the six that was struck back over the head of Akeem Dewar and celebrated with a powerful four off the next delivery.
As if to add salt to the wound, he took 33 balls for his second half century adding six more fours and four more sixes and celebrated by hitting Dewar for back to back sixes after passing his ton.
In fact, he took 15 deliveries to accumulate his 47 runs hitting four sixes and five fours after passing his century, before he was caught by Nikoli Parris at extra cover off the penultimate ball of the final over bowled by Jason Dawes, but not before he struck the first two for sixes over midwicket.
Xavier Marshall who was given a life by Wiggins at mid- off when he looked to hit Ryan Austin over the top, joined the boundary scoring act by hitting two sixes and three fours in his unbeaten 52 which took him 53 deliveries to accumulate, as he added 174 for the third wicket with Gayle from 20.1 overs.
Dawes ended with 1 for 104 from nine overs while Austin got 1 for 34 from his nine and Mayers 1 for 50 from six, but strangely enough, Kantasingh was only used for six overs which cost CCC 30 runs and Parris four overs that went for 20 runs, while Dawes was being punished by Gayle.
When CCC began their reply, they were rocked early by Krishmar Santokie who ended with 2 for 16 from 6 overs, losing Miles Bascombe and Nicholas Alexis without scoring, while Romel Currency made 6 before he was caught by Shawn Findlay off Santokie to leave CCC on 10 for 3 in the seventh over.
Parris added 47 with Wiggins who struck Findlay for back to back fours off the first two deliveries of the eighth over, while Parris himself struck Odean Browne for a four.
But with the run rate climbing high, Parris went for an audacious shot over extra cover off Browne, after hitting the previous through midwicket for four and was caught by Marshall while Mayers who made 13, pushed one back to Browne.
Enter Smith at 80 for 5, with CCC looking to get 180 runs from 13.2 overs and even though he struck two fours in his unbeaten 26 and Wiggins got to his half century off the first delivery of the final over, counting three fours from 84 deliveries, the order was too tall as they only got 45 of those runs against discipline bowling.
The action continues today with Group ‘A’ leaders Guyana taking on Barbados at the Blairmont Community Centre ground, while at Everest Windward Islands and Sagicor HPC will face each other.

Scorecard
Jamaica Innings

C. Gayle c Parris b Dawes 147
K. Lewis stp Smith b Austin 16
D. Hyatt c Kantasingh b Mayers 35
X. Marshall not out 52
A. Russell not out 04
Extras (w4, nb01)05
Total (for 3 wickets off 37 overs) 259
Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-81, 3-255
Bowling: Dawes 9-0-104-1 (nb1), Austin 9-2-34-1 (w1), Parris 4-0-20-0, Kantasingh 6-0-31-0, Mayers 6-0-50-1 (w1), Dewar 3-0-20-0 (w2)

CCC Innings

R. Currency c Findlay b Santokie 06
M. Bascombe c Lewis b Russell 00
N. Alexis lbw Santokie 00
N. Parris c Marshall b Browne 23
R. Wiggins not out 52
K. Mayers c&b Browne 13
J. Smith not out 26
Extras (w2, nb2, lb1)05
Total (for 5 wickets off 37 overs) 125
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-3, 3-10, 4-57, 5-80,
Bowling:  Santokie 6-2-16-2, Russell 3-0-8-1 (w1, nb1), Findlay 3-0-22-0 (nb1), Miller 9-2-14-0, Browne 9-0-35-2 (w2), Gayle 4-0-16-0, Lambert 3-0-14-0