Opener Chris Gayle, set to retire at the end of the tournament, led the West Indies reply with a blistering 50 off 34 balls as the two-times champions chased down Pakistani total, reaching 108-3 with 36.2 overs to spare.

West Indies' Nicholas Pooran walks off the pitch after hitting the winning runs as Pakistan's Sarfaraz Ahmed and team-mates look dejected.
West Indies' Nicholas Pooran walks off the pitch after hitting the winning runs as Pakistan's Sarfaraz Ahmed and team-mates look dejected. (Reuters)

West Indies hammered Pakistan by seven wickets at Trent Bridge on Friday to launch their World Cup campaign in style.

Pakistan were bowled out for just 105, with Oshane Thomas taking four wickets, before Chris Gayle smashed a quick-fire fifty as the West Indies romped home in just 13.4 overs.

The in-form Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam got off to solid starts but were both dismissed for 22, sparking a middle-order collapse that the former champions did not recover from.

Lowest total since 1992

Pakistan were bowled out in 21.4 overs for their lowest World Cup total since a paltry 74 against England at Adelaide in 1992, the year Imran Khan's team went on to lift their only 50-overs crown.

Fast bowler Mohammad Amir made his World Cup debut for Pakistan.
He missed the 2011 and 2015 World Cups due to a five-year spot-fixing ban.

Source: TRTWorld and agencies