West Indies earn some respect ahead of Cricket World Cup

Chris Gayle said the West Indies will “get a bit of respect” at this year’s World Cup after claiming a 2-2 series draw with tournament hosts and favourites England on Saturday.

Oshane Thomas and Gayle starred as the Windies thrashed England by seven wickets in the fifth and final one-day international held in St Lucia.

Thomas claimed five for 21 with the tourists being demolished for 113 off 28.1 overs — their lowest-ever total in an ODI against the Caribbean side — just three days after scoring 418 in the fourth match in Grenada.

Gayle signed off on his ODI career in the region with a blistering 77 off just 27 balls to catapult his side to victory with almost 38 overs to spare in reaching 115 for three off 12.1 overs.

The 39-year-old was the obvious choice for the man-of-the-series award given his utter dominance with the bat in every innings of the four matches, scoring 424 runs at an average of 106, with 39 sixes.

“At one stage I thought this is going to be my last (ODI) innings in the Caribbean for the West Indies, so I thought I’d go out on a high,” said Gayle.

“We’ll get a bit of respect going into the World Cup.”