KOLKATA: With 19 runs needed by West Indies in the final over and top-scorer Marlon Samuels on the non-striker’s end, Eoin Morgan must have thought that the World Twenty20 trophy was firmly in England’s grasp.
But in a hail of sixes, Carlos Brathwaite took the final away from England and sealed its fate in West Indies’ favour making them the first team to win the coveted crown for a second time here at Eden Gardens on Sunday night.
Braithwaite (34 off 10 balls) and perhaps even more importantly Samuels (85 off 66 balls) helped West Indies complete a stunning triple crown. Just hours before Braithwaite smashed four sixes off the first four deliveries of a shattered Ben Stokes’ final over, the West Indian women won a historic final against Australia. Their World T20 double came just weeks after West Indies annexed the World U-19 trophy in Bangladesh.
Their victory was hard-fought. Having restricted England to 155, West Indies were 11-3 and then 107-6 in the 16th over.
But just like the 2012 final, Samuels stood firm as a rock. Even Braithwaite — who took his side over the finish line — was all praise for him after finishing off the game with four sixes in a row.
“It was an amazing knock from Marlon. He took responsibility and played a fantastic knock,” he said.
One of the enduring memories of the 2016 championship would be that of a crushed Stokes after getting hit for four successive sixes in the final over.
When he began bowling the 20th over, the match was England’s to lose and Stokes just gave it away.
But skipper Morgan jumped to his player’s support saying that his pain will be shared.
“We showed an immense amount of character in the tournament, not quite done enough to win it,” said Morgan.
“I truly believe this is only the start of something special. It’s not his (Stokes’) fault, we’re all in this together, we enjoy our wins - and the pain will be shared tonight.”
Samuels walked to the crease in the second over of the chase, when England had surprised West Indies by using Joe Root with the new ball, and he duly claimed Johnson Charles and Chris Gayle in his first over. Samuels had a mountain of work to do, and he did it, just as he had in 2012.
Samuels is an enigmatic cricketer, one who seems to spend long periods in hibernation. During those times he is a Don’t Care Bear. But when he awakes, he is capable of anything, as he showed during the World T20 final in 2012, when his 78 from 56 balls set up the West Indies victory over Sri Lanka.
And he did it again at Eden Gardens and that too with limited support. England’s bowling was good. David Willey picked up 3 for 20, Liam Plunkett was hard to get away, Adil Rashid cost less than six an over. Dwayne Bravo managed 25 off 27 balls but besides him, Samuels and Brathwaite were the only ones to reach double figures.
West Indies found themselves needing 45 off the last four overs, then 38 off the last three, and 27 off the last two. But Morgan had left himself with Stokes and Root as his only bowling options, and Stokes could not hit the mark.
You could sense the relief for Darren Sammy, then, when he won the toss for the 10th successive time in T20 internationals, and sent England in. Ball one, Samuel Badree skidded it past the bat of Jason Roy, who was struck on the pad. Not out, sliding down leg. Ball two, Badree skidded it past the bat of Roy and onto the stumps. Roy had starred with 78 in England’s semi-final win over New Zealand, but this was going to be a rather different sort of innings.
When Alex Hales flicked Andre Russell to short fine leg in the next over, it felt like an anti-climax was brewing. So too when Morgan, perplexed by Badree’s wrong’un, edged to Gayle at slip to leave the total at 23 for 3 in the fifth over. But Badree bowled out, his figures of 2 for 16 impressive, and suddenly it was more of a contest.
Root was outstanding in the face of wickets falling around him. He struck seven boundaries and all were from classy, traditional cricket strokes, mostly along the ground, through the gaps. When eventually he innovated, he immolated. On 54 from 36, he fell when he tried to paddle Brathwaite over short fine leg, but in that position Sulieman Benn dived forward to take a sharp catch low to the ground.
Benn’s three overs cost 40 runs and Jos Buttler clubbed him for a pair of consecutive sixes in his 36 off 22 balls, and Sammy bowled just one over for 14.
Score Board
West Indies won toss
England
J J Roy b Badree 0
A D Hales c Badree b Russell 1
J E Root c Benn b Brathwaite 54
*E J G Morgan c Gayle b Badree 5
†J C Buttler c Bravo b Brathwaite 36
B A Stokes c Simmons b Bravo 13
M M Ali c Ramdin b Bravo 0
C J Jordan not out 12
D J Willey c Charles b Brathwaite 21
L E Plunkett c Badree b Bravo 4
A U Rashid not out 4
Extras (lb 4, w 1) 5
Total (9 wickets; 20 overs) 155
Fall: 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 H Gayle c Stokes b Root 4
M N Samuels not out 85
L M P Simmons lbw b Willey 0
D J Bravo c Root b Rashid 25
A D Russell c Stokes b Willey 1
*D J G Sammy c Hales b Willey 2
C R Brathwaite not out 34
Extras (lb 3, w 6) 9
Total (6 wickets; 19.4 overs) 161
Did not bat: †D Ramdin, S Badree, S J Benn
Fall: 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)
Result: West Indies won by 4 wickets
Series: West Indies won the 2015/16 World T20
Man of the Match: M N Samuels (WI)
Man of the Series: Virat Kohli (India)
Umpires: H D P K Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and R J Tucker (Australia). TV umpire: M Erasmus (South Africa). Match referee: R S Madugalle (Sri Lanka)