l COLOMBO

Chris Gayle struck a boundary filled 65 to lead West Indies to an easy eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan yesterday in their final warm-up fixture ahead of the ICC Twenty tournament starting in Sri Lanka this week.

Gayle started cautiously but later exploded into an array of shots as West Indies coasted to the modest target of 123 with more than five overs to spare.

He faced 48 deliveries hitting five fours and four sixes and featured in a 29 run partnership with Dwayne Smith for the first wicket.

Gayle also teamed up with Johnson Charles adding 59 runs in six overs which effectively smashed Afghanistan's dreams of creating an upset.

Marlon Samuels was not out on 15.

Afghanistan found it increasingly difficult to boost their run rate when it became necessary.

Asghar Stanikzai was their star batsman scoring his second half-century in two matches and batting responsibly to guide the innings for the most part.

His top score of 53 included five fours and two sixes but he before he could boost Afghanistan's scoring he was caught in the 18th over leaving his side 100 for six.

A few boundaries towards the end took them to 122 but not enough to offset a West Indies run chase.

Fidel Edwards grabbed three for 24 to be the pick of the West Indies bowlers, while Sunil Narine took 2 for 23 and a wicket each went to Darren Sammy and Ravi Rampaul.

West Indies face Australia in their first World Twenty/20 game on September 22 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, while Afghanistan play India at the same venue three days later.

SCOREBOARD West Indies v Bangladesh   Afghanistan Inns Mohammad Shahzdad c Smith b Sammy.........................................7 Karim Sadiq c Russell b Edwards.......................................6 Nawroz Mangal c Samuels b Rampaul.....................................15  Asghar Stanikzai c Smith b Edwards.....................................53  Mohammad Nabi c Charles b Narine.........................................11  Shafiqullah c Russell b Narine.....1  Samiullah Shenwari not out..........9  Gulbodin Naib b Edwards...........10  M Nasim Baras not out.................1  Exras (LB4, W4, NB1)..................9  TOTAL (for 7 wkts; 20 overs)...122 Did not bat: Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Izatullah Dawlatzai, Javed Ahmadi, Hamid Hassan, Najibullah Zadran Fall of wkts: 7 (Karim Sadiq, 1 over), 30 (Nawroz Mangal, 4.3), 32 (Mohammad Shahzad, 5.2),93 (Mohammad Nabi, 15), 100 (Shafiqullah, 16.4), 100 (Asghar Stanikzai, 17.3), 114 (Gulbodin Naib, 19.1) BOWLING: Edwards 4-0-24-3, Rampaul 4-0-26-1, Sammy 4-0-26-1, Russell 2-0-12-0, Narine 4-0-23-2, Samuels 3-0-18-0. West Indies Inns D Smith c Shafiqullah b Mohammad Nabi........................13 C Gayle not out..........................65 J Charles b Mohammad Nabi.....12 M Samuels not out.....................15 Extras (LB9, W7, NB4)...............20 TOTAL (for two wkts; 15.5 overs).......................................125 Did not bat: K Pollard, +D Ramdin, A Russell, *D Sammy, L Simmons, S Badree, DJ Bravo, DM Bravo, S Narine, R Rampaul, F Edwards Fall of wkts: 29 (Smith, 5.1 overs), 88 (Charles, 11.1) Bowling: Zadran 2- 0- 9- 0-,  Dawlatzai 4- 0-38- 0, Sadiq 3-0- 8-0, Nabi 4-0-29-2, Baras 1-0-13-0, Shenwari 1-0-13- 0, Mangal 0.5-0-6-0. Result: West Indies won by eight wickets. Toss: Afghanistan.