T20 World Cup: West Indies Wrap Up Commanding Victory Over England

England slipped to their second successive defeat of the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka as their opening Super Eight match ended with a 16-run loss to the West Indies.

Having already lost to India, a stunning display from West Indies openers Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles set England a target of 180 from their 20 overs and Stuart Broad's side got off to the worst possible start.

England lost Craig Kieswetter and Luke Wright for ducks in the first over of the match as they did well to recover and get close to the West Indies impressive total.

Superb knocks from Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales meant England needed 23 from the final over but the duo were unable to knock off the runs as Marlon Samuels held his nerve, eventually claiming the wicket of Hales who fell for 68 from 51 balls.

Earlier in the day the West Indies had set England a difficult target thanks to openers Gayle and Charles who put on 103 for the first wicket, thanks to some brutal hitting from both men.

Charles took a while to get going as he initially struggled to get the ball away, however, once he was on full swing he delivered some first class shots to put the England bowlers to the sword.

Gayle took no such time as he immediately set to dismantling the England bowlers, taking a special liking to spinner Samit Patel who was hit for three sixes in a single over.

England's first genuine chance of a wicket came when Charles skied a straight drive from Graeme Swann (1-36) to Steve Finn who didn't even manage to get a hand on the ball. Fortunately the fast bowler immediately made up for his mistake as the very next ball he caught Gayle off the same bowler.

Gayle's 58 had come off just 35 balls and included four sixes and six fours as he helped the West Indies get off to the perfect start. Marlon Samuels (2) and Keiran Pollard (1) both struggled to keep the fireworks going falling respectively to Stuart Broad (2-26) and Steve Finn (1-26).

Charles continued to lead the onslaught as he hit 10 fours and three sixes before finally falling for 84 when he miscued a Jade Dernbach deliver and Jonny Bairstow took a simple catch.

A slower-ball Yorker from Broad accounted for Bravo (4) before Dwayne Bravo (11 not out) and Andre Russell (10 not out) got the West Indies up to an impressive score of 179-5.

Ravi Rampaul (2-37) picked up a double wicket maiden when he claimed the scalps of Kieswetter and Wright as the West Indies made the perfect start.

England tried to recover as Hales and Baistow began to find some boundaries but it was only when the Yorkshire man fell to Gayle (1-27) for 18 that the run rate began to improve.

Eoin Morgan began to give England some impetus as he hit four fours and five sixes in a superb knock of 71 from just 36 balls.

The Middlesex man brought up a 100-run partnership with hales from just 52 balls but England had left themselves far too much to do and the West Indies were deserved winners.

"I think 179 was a below-par score, so we're disappointed not to have chased that," said broad. "We have to stop losing early wickets like that. We were quite happy with our bowling effort, I think it was a missed opportunity to win tonight. Eoin's strength is when the field is back, he has been fantastic for us in this format of the game."