The packed Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata deserved a thrilling game of cricket as it geared up to host the final of the T20 World Cup 2016 on April 3. Despite India not making the tournament decisive, there was no shortage of energy in the crowd. For the match between England and West Indies. Winning the toss, West Indies captain Darren Sammy, hoping for an early breakthrough, invited England to bat first. And their bowlers did not disappoint.
Samuel Badree dismissed Jason Roy in the first over and Andre Russell took the wicket of Alex Hales in the next over. Before England could understand, they were reduced to 23/3 after Eoin Morgan fell in the fifth over.
The partnership between Joe Root and Jos Buttler attempted to give some stability to the innings as the duo put on 51 runs for the fourth wicket. But England failed to regain the momentum due to Butler’s dismissal in the 12th over.
Soon, Root too was sent back to the pavilion and England ended the innings with 155 runs.
There were early setbacks in West Indies’ reply too but Marlon Samuels kept the innings in check from one end. Taking the score 11/3 in the third over, Samuels formed a crucial partnership with Dwayne Bravo (25) before finding support from Carlos Brathwaite.
It all boiled down to the final over and WI needed 19 runs off the last six balls to claim their second T20 World Cup title. The hope of winning the second T20 World Cup for England rested on the shoulders of Ben Stokes who went to deliver the final over.
Stokes started the over with a half-volley on the leg-stump to Brathwaite, who made no mistake to deposit the ball into the stands towards the backward square leg area.
The right-handed batsman leveled the score with two more sixes. From 19 out of 6, WI now only needed 1 in 3.
But Brathwaite decided to give the match a good photo finish and helped West Indies win their second title by hitting another six over midwicket.
And the icing on the cake was Ian Bishop, who sat in the commentary box, uttering the golden words: “Carlos Braithwaite, remember the name.”
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