West Indies 161/6 (MN Samuels 85*, CR Brathwaite 34, DJ Willey 3/25, JE Root 2/9) beat England 155/9 (JE Root 54, JC Buttler 36, CR Brathwaite 3/23, DJ Bravo 3/37, S Badree 2/16)Player of the Match: Marlon Samuels
DHAKA: Brilliant athletes from Caribbean islands men and women made the cricket coliseum Eden Gardens a delightful arena for celebration winning ICC T20 World Cup like fairy tales.
The Caribbean eves gunned down Aussie girls’ set target of 149 with ease and comfort. Their male comrades stunned the shell-shocked Englishmen with Brathwaite striking 6 6 6 & 6 off the first four balls of the last over of the match.
Eden erupted with calypso style wild dance and city of joy for few hours forgot the bitter memory of flyover collapse days ago. West Indian girls won by eight wickets which is the first cup win for them. The men’s team became the first to win the title second time winning by 4 wickets.
In four months of 2016 West Indies have won three out of three world tournaments announcing the return of Caribbean dominance of world cricket. West Indies beat India in Under-19 world cup, Australian eves were drowned in Women’s final and English Lions were caged in Men’s final. So, all three ICC’s self-proclaimed muscle powers were made undone by brilliant West Indies.
England did everything perfectly till the 39th over of the epic final with West Indies requiring 19 runs to win in a tight contest. Well-set Samuels and, till that time calm, Brathwaite were together with Samuels looking on his junior partner in the strike. No one had idea of the Caribbean hurricane that was coming. Ben Stokes who gave away 17 runs in his first two overs was tasked to ball the all-important final over. The unbelievable fairy tale unfolded. The brave Caribbean smashed first four deliveries across and over the ropes triggering Caribbean delight. The 50,000 cricket worshippers¸ most of whom cheered for the Englishmen, at Eden Gardens were awed by the Caribbean shock and witness their effervescent joy and delight.
On a not-too-easy-wicket-to-bat Englishmen could post a challenging target of 156-run to win for West Indies after getting reduced to 3/23 by the 5th over. Root and Buttler could post fighting 63 runs in 4th wicket partnership. Root scored 54 off 34 deliveries displaying his brand of aggressive cricket. Apart from him, only Buttler could do justice with the bat scoring 36 off 22 deliveries only.
Three West Indian bowlers -- Brathwaite (3/23), Bravo (3/37) and Badree (2/16) -- proved too hot to handle for the Englishmen. A combination of controlled leg spin and accurate seam bowling reduced England to 23/3 by the 4th over.
Early loss of Roy, Hales and Morgan put paid to Englishmen efforts of setting a huge target for the Caribbean. Yet, on the sluggish wicket, 155/9 was a tricky score given the tensions and excitement of the final of the world event. Almost 90 percent of the 50,000 Eden Crowd were wishing and shouting for their Colonial Masters. But, perhaps majority of electronic media viewers all over the cricket world were praying for a Caribbean backlash.
Off all persons golden arms of Joe Root brought momentary delight for the English camp striking double blows in his very first and teams second over. Big guns, Gayle and Charles, were silenced. When the hero of the semi-final Simmons returned to the pavilion without bothering the scorers, West Indies were down to 3/11 in the 3rd over.
Englishmen all over the world started dreaming.
Marlon Samuels, who did little till then in the team’s efforts, started carrying the team on his shoulder. He had a reliable allay in Bravo. The pair played sensibly and recovered from the tight corner putting up a 75 runs 4th wicket partnership. But once Bravo left in the 15th over scoring 25-run, matters got very steep. Still, 70 runs were required for the win in 36 balls. Russell and Sammy fell in a hurry making situation look gloomy. Brathwaite joined Samuels with 49 required of 27 deliveries.
This writer was travelling back from Dhaka City center to Uttara along with Bangladeshi Australian Hemi Hossain in rain soaked Dhaka midnight. We were counting every run and every delivery. The match tilted very heavily in England’s favor with 19 required off the last over.
It was not Samuels but young Brathwaite, who was playing his first ever world cup, at the strike.
Morgan tasked Ben Stokes with the responsibility of bowling the all-important last over. It was 6 6 6 and 6, an exhibition of excellent never-seen-before power hitting in a World Cup Final.
Brathwaite became the heralded hero. West Indies wrote a modern day fairy tale in style.
West Indies won by four wickets with only two balls to spare in unbelievable fashion.
It could be Brathwaite winning the player of the match for his unbelievable power hitting and all-round performance (34* off only 10 balls and 3/23). But Samuels’s unbeaten 82 off 52 deliveries and holding the innings together was preferred for the ward.
West Indies was the worthy winner for their wonderful performance all through the way. It was justice done to the players who are suit to the brand of power cricket essential for the shortest version of the game.
BDST: 0914 HRS, APR 04, 2016
SR
