Chris Gayle blasted a spectacular century to propel the West Indies to a fabulous six-wicket win against England in their World Twenty20 opener in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The left-hander smashed 11 sixes and five fours as the West Indies successfully chased down England's score of 182 for 6 at the Wankhede Stadium.

Marlon Samuels (37) supported Gayle in smashing the England bowling. The pair added 55 for the second wicket to lay the foundation for a West Indies victory.

England spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid were hammered by Gayle with Ali being hit for 3 consecutive sixes in an over in which he gave away 22 runs.

Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin went cheaply in a brief period of worry for West Indies, but England team could do little to stop the 36-year-old Gayle taking their bowling apart.

England openers Alex Hales (28) and Jason Ray (15) broke the shackles in the 3rd over as they added 18 runs against fast bowler Jerome Taylor after West Indies restricted them to just 5 runs in the first two overs.

Jos Buttler (30) and Morgan (27 not out) batted well, scoring 18 runs in their last over off paceman Bravo.