Kandy (Sri Lanka), Sep 29 (IANS/CMC): Opening batsman Johnson Charles, who cracked 84 runs to set-up a 15 run victory for the West Indies against England in the World T20 tournament has credited the Sagicor High Performance Centre (HPC) for the improvement in his batting.

The 23-year-old opener who has already completed four months at the Barbados based HPC before he was called up for duty says he has been seeing the benefits of the programme, reports CMC.

"The HPC has helped me very much. Since going there I have improved my fitness and my approach to the game," said Charles who featured in a brilliant opening stand of 103 with Chris Gayle.

"I have been working on my batting, especially the start of my innings - how to go about my innings, how to build a big score."

Charles made his international debut last September against England and returned to the team for the Digicel Series against Australia in March.

He entered the Sagicor High Performance Centre in June and said that has been a great boost to his development on and off the field.

"I have been doing a lot more batting than at any stage in my career and I have placed a lot more emphasis on fitness," said Charles.

"It is an all-round programme and after just four months I have seen some of the benefits."

His 84 runs against England was Charles' highest in the West Indies colours surpassing the 37 he made against Australia in Barbados earlier this year.

The strongly-built right-hander said he relished the chance to play in front such a large number of spectators and enjoyed batting with Gayle.

"If you're batting with Chris Gayle you know his ability, you know what he can do, you just have to give him the strike, sit back and watch," said Charles.