The West Indies dished out a dream performance, crashing England’s dream to lift their second World T20 title in super style here at Eden Gardens on Sunday. The Caribbean team played with spunk and guts to win by four wickets in a final over blitzkrieg as England were stunned into submission.
Having played catch up for most parts of their 156-run chase, the West Indies knocked the wind off England sealing a famous win in 19.4 overs.
Needing 19 off the final over, Carlos Brathwaite (34 not out, 10 balls, 1x4, 4x6) slammed four successive sixes off Ben Stokes as the West Indies broke into wild celebrations.
Marlon Samuels was the chief architect scoring a 66-ball unbeaten 85 to put the West Indies on course.
It was a nightmare for Stokes, who could not believe the sudden Windies’ charge. The pacer sat on the crease for a long time with disbelief written large on his face.
In the evening, West Indies skipper Darren Sammy won the toss and elected to field. After early setbacks, Joe Root provided some stability to the England innings scoring a 36-ball 54 to take them to 155/9.
After an early collapse, England bounced back in the middle overs.
Down at 8/2, England’s starry pair failed to shine at the big stage. Skipper Eoin Morgan (5) kept searching for his mojo before succumbing to a googly from Samuel Badree.
However, after Morgan’s departure, Root and Jos Buttler got together for the resurrection act. The duo stitched a 61-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Buttler fell to Carlos Brathwaite in the 12th over. Dwayne Bravo took his catch at midwicket and broke into his signature dance. Buttler slammed three sixes and a four in his 22-ball 36.
At 88/4, England still looked good for a late strike considering the depth in their batting. But Bravo distorted their plans. He dismissed Ben Stokes (13) and Moeen Ali (0) in the same over. Ali could not read the slower delivery from Bravo and nicked it to Denesh Ramdin behind the stumps.
Scoreboard England: J. Roy b Badree 0, A. Hales c Badree b Russell 1, J. Root c Benn b Brathwaite 54, E. Morgan c Gayle b Badree 5, J. Buttler c Bravo b Brathwaite 36, B. Stokes c Simmons b Bravo 13, M. Ali c Ramdin b Bravo 0, C. Jordan (not out) 12, D. Willey c Charles b Brathwaite 21, L. Plunkett c Badree b Bravo 4, A. Rashid (not out) 4. Extras: (lb4, w1) 5. Total (for 9 wkts, in 20 overs) 155. FoW: 1-0, 2-8, 3-23, 4-84, 5-110, 6-110, 7-111, 8-136, 9-142. Bowling: Badree 4-1-16-2, Russell 4-0-21-1, Benn 3-0-40-0, Bravo 4-0-37-3, Brathwaite 4-0-23-3 (1w), Sammy 1-0-14-0
West Indies: J. Charles c Stokes b Root 1, C. Gayle c Stokes b Root 4, M. Samuels (not out) 85, L. Simmons lbw b Willey 0, D. Bravo c Root b Rashid 25, A. Russel c Stokes b Willey 1, D. Sammy c Hales b Willey 2, C. Brathwaite (not out) 34. Extras: (lb 3, w 6) 9. Total: (for 6 wkts, in 19.4 overs) 161 FoW: 1-1, 2-5, 3-11, 4-86, 5-104, 6-107 Bowling: Willey 4-0-20-3 (2w), Root 1-0-9-2, Jordan 4-0-36-0 (1w), Plunkett 4-0-29-0 (1w), Rashid 4-0-23-1, Stokes 2.4-0-41-0 (2w)
