ICC World Cup 2019, Afghanistan vs Windies: Chris Gayle 18 runs away from breaking Brian Lara’s massive ODI record

The two teams will be playing for pride as both Windies and Afghanistan have been eliminated from the tournament.

West Indies opener Chris Gayle is on the cusp of adding a new feather into his already illustrious cap as he just 18 runs shy of surpassing legendary Brian Lara in the list of highest run-getters for Windies in ODIs. Gayle will have a chance to set this record when Windies take on Afghanistan in their ICC World Cup 2019 group stage clash at Headingley in Leeds on Thursday. ((ICC World Cup 2019: Full Coverage))

File image of Windies cricketer Chris Gayle. (Action Images via Reuters)

The two teams will be playing for pride as both Windies and Afghanistan have been eliminated from the tournament. Afghanistan are placed at the bottom of the table, having lost all of their eight contests while Windies are at the seventh spot with one win in eight outings.

Gayle will be eager to finish the tournament on a high as it will be his final appearance at the showpiece event. Also, the southpaw will be looking to break few record of Brian Lara before he walks into the sunset as he approaches the fag end of his illustrious career.

Gayle needs just 18 runs to become the highest-run scorer for Windies in ODIs and push Lara on to the second spot. The two southpaws remain the only two cricketers from their nation to cross the 10,000-run mark in ODIs.

Also, if Gayle scores at least 47 against Afghanistan, he will surpass Lara (1225) and become the leading run-scorer for West Indies in the World Cup. And if the self proclaimed ‘Universe Boss’ manages to score a century, he will have the joint-most centuries for West Indies in cricket’s showpiece event along with Sir Viv Richards (3).