World T20 final:
Samuels, Brathwaite stun England to hand West Indies title
KLKATA: An absolute sizzler of a final came down to the last
over at Eden Gardens on Sunday. West Indies, with six wickets in hand and
Marlon Samuels batting on 85, needed 19 runs. The man entrusted with defending
that was the allrounder Ben Stokes, who a few overs earlier had taken a superb
boundary catch to get the dangerous Andre Russell. The next four deliveries
sailed for sixes off Carlos Brathwaite's bat, leaving England stunned. This is
the kind of nerve-shredding success West Indies have prided themselves on all
tournament, and Brathwaite's monstrous hitting made them the first team to lift
the ICC World Twenty20 a second time.
Chasing
156, West Indies won by four wickets with two balls left. The dugout cleared,
Brathwaite was mobbed by delirious team-mates, and the firecrackers went off.
It was riveting cricket.
Brathwaite
dominated that electric last over, but it was Samuels stood tall for West
Indies in the face of some serious pressure from England to carry them from a
bad start to victory with an exceptional innings. Reprising his match-winning
role from the 2012 final in Colombo, but in the role of anchor and then
late-overs hitter, Samuels finished the job after being given a massive
reprieve on 27 when replays showed that an outer edge had not carried to Jos
Buttler behind the stumps.
That
England didn't throw in the towel added to this absolute sizzler of a final.
Adil Rashid finished a very economical outing with the wicket of Dwayne Bravo
and David Willey bounced out two wickets in the 16th over, but Braithwaite - 34
not out off 10 balls in his first final - was simply outrageous.
All this
came after West Indies lost their openers trying to launch Joe Root's offspin
into the stands in the second over, while Lendl Simmons came the full spectrum,
out first ball to Willey after defeating India with an unbeaten 82 in the
semi-final. More than four overs passed without a boundary. In the sixth over,
bowled by Chris Jordan, Samuels hit three. You sensed something was brewing.
From the other end came Liam Plunkett, England's quickest bowler and senior
most player. First ball after the Powerplay, Samuels was forced into an edge.
Buttler took the catch, the umpire raised his finger, and Samuels walked off.
But then the replay was called for, and on the TV flashed proof that the ball
had died just before Buttler's glove.
Rashid's
spell proved important at this stage. His first three overs produced only 13
runs, and targeting him at the back end was going to be crucial. West Indies'
fifty came up in 53 balls, and unusually for them that period contained only
five boundaries. After 12 overs, the equation was 89 to get with eight wickets
in hand, with Dwayne Bravo on 11 off 19. The allrounder got a life when the
substitute fielder Sam Billings slipped at deep square leg and let a top edge
slip out, but it didn't cost much. To Rashid's final delivery, Bravo heaved and
top-edged to backward point. The legspinner bowled out with 1/23.
By now
the requirement was two runs per ball, and Samuels - having reached his
half-century - opened up with a four and two sixes off Plunkett in the 15th
over. It was clinical hitting, with Samuels set on going after the seamer.
With West
Indies needing 50 from 30 now, Morgan called back Willey. Two short balls did
the trick: Andre Russell banged the first to deep midwicket where Stokes held a
great running catch, and then Darren Sammy sliced to deep cover. Defending 38
off 18, Willey finished with an 11-run over to make it 27 from 12. Jordan's
accuracy left Stokes to defend 19, but Brathwaite had other plans in what will
rank as one of the most sensational final overs of a T20I ever.
After 20
overs, it seemed like England were a few short, and ultimately that proved
true. Samuel Badree got the ball rolling with two early wickets but it was a
sensational four-ball burst that accounted for three wickets, including Root
for a balmy 54, that really shattered England's spirit. The late assault never
materialised as England managed 49 runs in the last six overs.
Root,
as so often the case, appeared to be batting on a different pitch. Two
sumptuous shots off Sulieman Benn had eased some of the early pressure, and an
ability to ensure the bad balls were taken for runs ensured that one end was
held up. Russell was pulled superbly into the gap on the leg side, Sammy forced
past point and Bravo slapped through the same region with authority.
Buttler briefly contributed to England's revival
with a 22-ball 36 that featured two big sixes off Benn, but fell playing in the
same method. Second ball from Brathwaite, he swung to deep midwicket and found
Bravo. If Bravo's celebration at the time was animated, then moments later he
was unstoppable. In the 14th over, he bounced out Ben Stokes with a slower
delivery that sat up and caught the left-hander unaware, the ball ballooning to
point for an east catch, and then had Moeen
One
legal delivery later, Root fell to his own failing when he utterly mistimed a
paddle attempt off Braithwaite and found a diving Benn at short fine leg. That
clutch of wickets set England back to a point from where they could not recover
strongly. Brathwaite 3/23 was huge, but in the end it was his batting that made
the loudest impact.
Brief
scores: West
Indies 161/6 in 19.4 overs (Samuels 85*, Willey 3/20, Root 2/9) beat England
155/9 in 20 overs (Root 54, Brathwaite 3/23, Bravo 3/37, Badree 2/16) by four
wickets
