West Indies v England World T20 Final – 5 Talking Points

The stage was set for the big final clash of the World T20 2016 as West Indies and England locked horns at the Eden Gardens. Coming into the match, West Indies were high on spirits with their win over the favorites, India. England, on the other hand, had defeated the until then unbeaten side in the tournament, New Zealand. The two sides shared a history in the tournament. They met in the group encounter and it was the Gayle storm that blew away the English on the night with a century.

Darren Sammy won the toss yet again and opted to bowl first. England were rocked early in the innings with 3 quick wickets. Joe Root and Jos Buttler rebuilt the innings. Root notched up his half century but couldn’t continue after that. No other significant contributions saw England finish on 155/9 in their 20 overs.

West Indies chase started in a shaky manner as openers Johnson Charles and Chris Gayle were dismissed cheaply and so was the star of the last match, Lendl Simmons. Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo then put on 75 for the 4th wicket to stabilise the innings. Samuels played the anchor innings with a gritty unbeaten 85. The late blows were given by Carlos Brathwaite, who hit 4 sixes in the last over to steer Windies to a historic win.

1. Early Jolts – Badree and Russell strike:

Samuel Badree was spot on in the very first over and got rid of the danger man Jason Roy on the very second delivery of the match. Badree, who is known to bowl well in the powerplays, picked up another key wicket of Eoin Morgan in his next over. An over prior to that, it was Andre Russell who cut short Alex Hales’ stay at the crease to dismiss him for 1. By the end of fifth over, England were struggling at 23/3 with two new batsmen, Jos Buttler and Joe Root, at the crease. The English side, who have been relying a great deal on their openers for good starts in the tournament so far, were given serious jolts early in the innings. Badree finished with figures of 2/16 in his 4 overs and Russell returned with figures of 1/21 in his 4.

2. Consistent Root finds Buttler support:

As has been the case for most part of the English summer last year, the job of rebuilding the innings was in the hands of middle-order mainstay, Joe Root. Root did not disappoint either. He started of cautiously and then forged a 61-run stand in 42 balls with Jos Buttler. Root ended the tournament as the second leading run getter behind Virat Kohli. He was well-supported by Buttler, who did the acceleration job, once settled. Buttler hit a couple of sixes off the bowling of Sulieman Benn to bring back the momentum in England’s favour. The partnership was broken when Carlos Brathwaite dismissed Buttler in the 12th over for 36 (22). Root followed soon and was dismissed in the 14th over by Brathwaite for 54. He hit 7 boundaries in his innings. His consistency at the crease will certainly please the English supporters in the longer run.

3. Root’s double-blow:

The highlight of the chase was the change in tactics by England. West Indies openers, Chris Gayle and Johsnson Charles, were out in the middle and promised to make an easy chase of 155. However, a clinical first over my David Willey gave away just one run. The next over was a surprise as Joe Root was at the crease with the ball in hand. Root came in to bowl in the powerplay and the trick worked well. Charles, having faced 6 balls for his one run, tried to break the shackles and was caught in the deep on the very first ball of the over. Chris Gayle hammered a boundary on the next ball to ease out the tension. Just when the crowd started feeling the Gayle storm was building up, Root struck again to dismiss Gayle for just 4. The double blow rocked West Indies. To add salt to the wounds, Simmons was dismissed in the next over for a golden duck.

4. Samuels plays the anchor role:

The West Indies chase was in hot waters when Marlon Samuels came in to the bat. The player, who is known to be the man of big occasions, rightly justified his reputation. Samuels was instrumental the last time West Indies won the World T20 and this time it was no different either. He put on 75 runs for the 4th wicket with Dwayne Bravo and completed his half century too. When Bravo departed, the chase was on the back foot again. Two more quick wickets and West Indies lost the plot. But it was the experience of Samuels that was the difference between the two competing sides. He remained unbeaten on 85 off 66 balls and witnessed history from the non-strikers as West Indies lifted the T20 World Cup for the second time.

5. Brathwaite arrives at the big stage:

Carlos Brathwaite made the headlines a couple of months ago after his 4.2 crores auction in the IPL auctions. Not many knew about this all-rounder and there were questions about his credibility. But the big man delivered when it mattered the most. West Indies needed 19 to win off the last over and it was certainly an uphill task. Brathwaite seemed to be in a different world though. The big West Indian hit 4 consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes to take his side over the line in epic style. With 34 off just 10 balls, he absolutely blew the opposition away. Who knows, had there been two more deliveries, we could have witnessed 6 sixes hit in a row! Earlier in the day, he was instrumental with the ball too and had rocked the English middle order. He was the pick of the bowlers with 3/23 in his 4 overs.

How did the game pan out? – World T20 2016 Final Review: West Indies pulls off an astonishing victory