Jofra Archer was four years old when Chris Gayle first played international cricket, but at no stage did this confrontation feel like man against boy.
By the time Gayle scored his first runs off a bowler he might once have expected to call a team-mate rather than an opponent, Archer had kept him scoreless for nine deliveries, two of which were avoided only with a twitch of the neck.
And the runs, when they came, were a fluke: an inside edge that flew to fine leg for four and was greeted stoically by both men.
At no stage did Jofra Archer's confrontation with Chris Gayle feel like man against boy
Archer was only four years old when Gayle, 39, first played international cricket for West Indies
Gayle did connect with a couple of trademark blows in Archer's next over, but the point had been made. Gayle was barely the boss of the Hampshire Bowl, let alone the universe.
Before this game, Eoin Morgan had suggested that the decision of the Barbados-born Archer to qualify for England via his British father and passport would be 'reaffirmed' by a game against West Indies.
It was a clinical way of dealing with an emotive subject. But Morgan knows his man.
Archer played three times for West Indies Under-19s back in October 2013, before injury, fate and ambition took him to league cricket in Sussex, with happy consequences for England.
He is, in case there were any doubt, thrilled to be here.
His figures in this game of three for 30 from nine high-class overs took his tournament tally to nine at 18 apiece.
Gayle connected with a couple of trademark blows but struggled in Southampton on Friday
His figures in this game of three for 30 from nine overs took his tournament tally to nine
Only Pakistan's Mohammad Amir, who picked up five against Australia at Taunton on Wednesday, has more.
Meanwhile, in three of his four games, Archer has conceded less than four an over. That is not supposed to happen when a bowler operates largely at the start of an innings and its end.
But stats do not tell the story of his latest performance. His opening burst of 5-0-25-0 looked bog-standard on paper, but as well as giving the usually unflappable Gayle the hurry-up, Archer joined forces with Chris Woakes to mute the talented Shai Hope.
