MUMBAI: Chris Gayle hit the fastest century in World Twenty20 cricket as West Indies thumped England by six wickets in their Group 1 match on Wednesday.

Gayle took 47 balls to complete his century with five fours and 11 sixes and in his unbeaten 100 to better his own record of a 50-ball hundred in the 2007 tournament in South Africa.

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Marlon Samuels set the tone by hitting eight fours in his 37 before Gayle's brutal hitting took West Indies to 183-4 in 18.1 overs in reply to what earlier appeared to be a competitive England total of 182-6.

After being put in to bat, Joe Root top-scored with 48 off 36 balls and Jos Buttler hit three sixes in a cameo of 30 runs to lift England's total.