Gayle's masterclass propels West Indies ahead

- Scorecard

A defiant 155 not out by captain Chris Gayle helped West Indies take their overall lead to 296 with two second innings wickets left in the second Test against Australia in Adelaide on Monday.

At close of stumps on day four at the Adelaide Oval, the visitors, having resumed the day at 23 without loss, were 284 for eight with Ravi Rampaul (0) giving company to his skipper.

Gayle, who has been criticized recently for throwing away his wicket, played a rather uncharacteristic knock on Monday, his 155 taking a whopping 271 balls and consisting of 16 hits to the fence but just one over it. It was his first Test hundred against Australia.

However, Gayle's show of patience also had to do with the fact that the Caribbean wickets kept falling at the other end.

Besides Gayle's majestic ton, the next best individual contributions to the West Indies innings came from Shivnarine Chanderpaul (27), Brendan Nash (24) and Dwayne Bravo (22).

And it was Gayle's partnerships with the three batsmen above – 72 with Chanderpaul for the third wicket, 61 with Nash for the fourth and 57 with Bravo for the fifth – that gave the West Indies total a semblance of respectability.

However, Mitchell Johnson's (19-1-85-4) late burst meant the visitors slipped from 251 for four to 284 for eight.

With the West Indies having only a slender lead (12 runs) over Australia in the first innings, the onus is on the visitors to pose a daunting target for the hosts.

What should comfort them though is the fact that no team has made more than 239 in the fourth innings to win a Test at Adelaide in the 20th century.