St Kitts, June 23: Contrasting half-centuries from Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga gave the West Indies a solid start on a truncated opening day of the third cricket Test against India here on Thursday.
Prolific opening batsman Gayle cracked an enterprising 83 while his partner Ganga made a sedate 64 not out to see the hosts reach a strong 207 for one at the Warner Park stadium.
Ramnaresh Sarwan was unbeaten on 34 at the other end.
The Indians succeeded somewhat in curtailing the West Indian run flow that came at exhilarating pace till Gayle was at the crease.
Gayle struck three sixes off Harbhajan Singh and two off Sreesanth besides eight boundaries in his 127-ball knock to give his side a flying start after captain Brian Lara elected to bat on a benign track.
The cavalier batsman's fireworks came after the start was delayed by two-and-a-half hours due to a wet outfield caused by overnight rain. (Agencies)
Gayle, Ganga give Windies flying start
