Chris Gayle in action on Thursday.

Kingston: India were made to rue their decision to field first as Chris Gayle hit a blistering half-century in the rain-hit first one-day International at Sabina Park here Thursday.

West Indies were 222 for four after 40 overs. Chris Gayle was dismissed for 124. He was caught by Rahul Dravid off Ajit Agarkar. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was batting on 14 along with new-man Marlon Samuels. Agarkar claimed two wickets while Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel took one each

The tall lefthander was holding firm on 80 in a team total of 129 for two after 24 overs with captain Brian Lara giving him company on nine.

Opener Runako Morton (23) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (2) were the batsmen out.

The game was curtailed to 45-over-a-side, but it was a negligible loss considering the heavy rains which lashed Sabina Park last night and early morning.

Indian captain Rahul Dravid gambled on the moisture and green look of the wicket to opt to field first but his bowlers wilted early in sapping heat on a slowish wicket.

Irfan Pathan began with three wides and two no-balls and by the third over had been hit for four fours by Gayle.

Munaf Patel was steered, on driven and lofted over the infield and Rudra Pratap Singh, brought in to bowl in the seventh over, had three fours taken off him in one over.

Gayle raised his half-century from 46 balls with 11 fours before the Indians clawed their way back with two wickets in four overs.

Ajit Agarkar, the most impressive of the lot, provided the first breakthrough in the 14th over when he induced an edge from Morton to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Harbhajan Singh then won a leg-before shout against Ramnaresh Sarwan as West Indies slipped to 94 for 2 in the 17th over.

Harbhajan slipped into a groove early and bowled a maiden over to Lara but overall the tourists were affected by the sapping conditions.

Too often they overpitched or bowled short and it was an uncharacteristic display from a side which has won respect for their discipline in the last few months.

Ramesh Powar and Sreesanth were kept out of the team because of injuries.

Robin Uthappa was also left out while Yalaka Venugopal Rao was given the 12th man’s role.

West Indies opted for Ian Bradshaw ahead of Corey Collymore while Dwayne Smith was named the 12th man.