West Indies Script History in a Stunning World T20 Final

By: Sandeep Sharma

What a way to end the tournament! Four sixes on the trot and the match was over and, the West Indies, emerged as the World T20 champions for the second time – that too within a span of four years. Captain Darren Sammy and his men didn’t know where to hide their emotions right after the historic World T20 win.

They howled in excitement, danced, jumped around, hugged each other passionately, took a round of the Eden Gardens, posed bare chested and even narrated emotional speeches to describe their journey. It all happening at the Eden Gardens and, quite surprisingly, the stadium was almost a full-house.

The spectators couldn’t believe what they saw. It was like a roller-coaster ride. From start to finish, it was filled with thrills. There were several moments when England had the West Indies on the mat and vice-versa. But the climax of the grand finale only came in the last over.

England pacer Ben Stokes could not have never thought in his wildest dream about someone called Carlos Brathwaite striking the ball as clean as he did to destroy England completely off his bowling. Because England were right in the game and on their way to victory as the West Indies had to make 19 runs off the last over of the match.

But Brathwaite, who is also again a replacement like previous match hero Lendl Simmons, had other plans. He hammered a match-winning 34 off just 10 deliveries with a strike-rate of 340. He also made a strong point about this format of the game – nothing comes second to hitting the ball hard for power and distance.

You may have a very good technique and it may still mean a little in this format. What matter is your attitude and how well you can hold your nerve out on the field and how far can you hit ball.

The West Indies pair, Brathwaite and Marlon Samuels, displayed great temperament in dealing with the slam bang version of the game. They were clear in the minds during the chase. So, they could clear the boundaries easily.

Even during the tense moments in the match, their teammates kept the smiling faces intact in the dug-out. Not for a moment, they were in disbelief that the winning target was impossible to achieve.

It was this self-belief that made all the difference. They also understood a worthy cause to win the tournament with a hope to minimise the differences with their cricket bosses.