By Jonathan Wilson 

LONDON, England (AFP):  Devon Smith struck a magnificent 61 and Marlon Samuels a rapid-fire 51 as West Indies hit 208-8 in the first Twenty20 international against England at the Brit Oval.

It wasn't the most convincing start to Paul Collingwood's reign as England captain, particularly given he conceded a no ball in the 15th over for the basic error of failing to have four fielders along with the wicketkeeper in the ring.

Even worse, the one over he bowled went for 17.

The West Indies began as they went on, getting off to a flying start, their first 50 taking just 25 legitimate balls even though Chris Gayle, in his first game as captain, never looked comfortable.

Having mysteriously left his first three balls - something he rarely does even in Test cricket - he was beaten by the first two balls of James Anderson's first over, dragged an ungainly pull over mid-on for four, and was then bowled off under edge and thigh as he attempted to repeat the shot.

Smith began with an extraordinary flurry. He edged his first ball for four, cut his second for four, pulled his third for four, flicked his fourth for four off his legs, then edged a six over third man.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul was equally brutal, hitting four fours from Anderson's second over, one streakily, two with brilliantly improvised shots, stepping across his stumps to help the ball to a very straight deep fine leg.

Michael Yardy's left-arm darts, though, proved much harder to get away. He didn't really threaten to take wickets, but the fact his first two overs cost just 11 at least restored a measure of control.

It was Dimitri Mascarenhas who broke the partnership, though, in his second over in international cricket.

Chanderpaul had hit six boundaries in his innings of 41 off 27 balls when he failed to get hold of a pull and was caught low by Cook running in off the square leg boundary.

Smith's assault, though went on. Having brought up his 50 off 30 balls, he launched a huge six down the ground off Mascarenhas. A glorious pull for four off Anderson followed in the next over.

He finally went for 61 off 34 balls in which he struck three sixes, caught in the deep by Yardy to give Masceranhas his second wicket of the day.

Still there was no respite, as Marlon Samuels lofted the next ball for another six, the first boundary hit off the Hampshire seamer.

Dwayne Bravo, in the side only as a batsman because of injury, was stumped off a wide for one, but the onslaught continued.

Collingwood finally brought himself on to bowl the 16th over, but Denesh Ramdin smashed a six over cover off his second ball, and Marlon Samuels followed it up with another straight down the ground two balls later. His one over went for a total of 17 runs.

Samuels then lifted Sidebottom out of the ground with an astonishing pick-up shot off his legs, before showing the more delicate side of his game later in the over, tucking a flick for four down to deep fine leg and then squeezing another boundary through third man.

His half-century - the second fastest ever behind Sanath Jayasuriya - came up after just 25 balls with a mighty six over long off before he holed out to Mascarenhas off Sidebottom for 51.

A flurry of late wickets, including an unfortunate run out for Dwayne Smith after his drive had struck the umpire, prevented West Indies threatened Australia's world record of 221-5, set against England in Sydney last year, but it was still a highly impressive total.

Scoreboard:

West Indies Innings
Chris Gayle (capt) b Anderson 5
Devon Smith c Yardy b Mascarenhas 61
Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Cook b Mascarenhas 41
Marlon Samuels c Mascarenhas b Sidebottom 51
Dwayne Bravo st Prior b Yardy 1
Denesh Ramdin (wk) c Mascarenhas b Broad 24
Dwayne Smith run out 6
Runako Morton not out 2
Darren Sammy b Anderson 1
Ravi Rampaul not out 0
Extras (1b, 5lb, 9w, 1nb) 16
Total (8 wkts, 20 overs) 208

Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Gayle); 2-97 (Chanderpaul); 3-115 (Devon Smith); 4-131 (Bravo); 5-190 (Ramdin); 6-199 (Samuels); 7-204 (Dwayne Smith); 8-206 (Sammy)

Did not bat: Daren Powell

Bowling: Sidebottom 4-0-42-1; Anderson 4-0-37-2 (1w); Broad 3-0-32-1 (1w); Yardy 4-0-35-1 (3w); Mascarenhas 4-0-39-2 (1lb); Collingwood 1-0-17-0

England Innings
Alastair Cook c Bravo b Dwayne Smith 15
Matt Prior (wk) c Powell b Dwayne Smith 25
Jonathan Trott b Sammy 9
Kevin Pietersen run out 16
Paul Collingwood (capt) run out 79
Owais Shah lbw b Dwayne Smith 7
Dimitri Mascarenhas c Morton b Sammy 2
Michael Yardy not out 23
Stuart Broad not out 1
Extras (1b, 8lb, 7w) 16
Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 193

Fall: 1-40 (Cook); 2-48 (Prior); 3-69 (Trott); 4-78 (Pietersen); 5-90 (Shah); 6-101 (Mascarenhas)
Did not bat: Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson

Bowling: Powell 3-0-39-0 (2w); Rampaul 4-0-26-0; Dwayne Smith 4-0-24-3; Sammy 4-0-37-2; Samuels 4-0-52-0 (1w); Bravo 1-0-6-0

Toss: West Indies
Umpires: Peter Hartley (ENG), Nigel Llong (ENG)
TV umpire: Ian Gould (ENG)
Match referee: Mike Procter (RSA)