HIGHLIGHTS: England stunned by Brathwaite blitz

Barnaby Read 22:14 03/04/2016
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  • The West Indies are now the first team to win the World T20 twice.

    KOLKATA, India — West Indies are World T20 champions once more after defeating England in stunning fashion in Kolkata.

    Carlos Brathwaite smashed four consecutive sixes in the final over to seal the win for his country after a memorable innings from Marlon Samuels set his team up for victory.

    Samuels outscored his own highest innings in World T20 finals with an unbeaten 85 but Brathwaite stole the headlines in remarkable style.

    It handed the West Indies the double after their women won their own final earlier in the day and the heroics of the men’s side sparked wild celebrations both on the pitch and in the stands.

    They had looked to have left too much to do in the closing stages but as Darren Sammy had previously said he and his team were always confident that they could take the game deep and win it with power hitting.

    That was the case as Ben Stokes watched four length balls sail over the mid on boundary, England’s chances being blitzed in one of the most incredible finishes to a game in T20I cricket history.

    After Darren Sammy inevitably won a tenth toss on the bounce England’s charge faltered before it even got going with Samuel Badree taking just two balls to remove Jason Roy before Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan departed, leaving their side 23-3.

    It delighted an Eden Gardens crowd avidly supporting the West Indies, for whom it must have felt like a home crowd such was the backing given Sammy’s men in Kolkata.

    England limped to 33-3 after the six overs of Power Play but with Joe Root at the wicket anything seems possible.

    Alongside Jos Buttler the pair pieced England’s innings back together with superb running and clean hitting to salvage the lost momentum from the early wickets.

    They mustered 61 for the fourth wicket before Buttler’s exit but crucially they had steered their innings back on track.

    But as Root moved to a second 50 of the tournament he found no support at the other end and by the time he, like Buttler, fell to Brathwate for 55 England were behind the running on 111-7.

    Some late hitting from David Willey saw England to 155-9 from their 20 overs but on a very good wicket at Eden Gardens it looked way below par.

    Brathwaite (3-23) was exceptional, also picking up the wicket of Willey, and was supported by Bravo (3-37) and Badree (2-16) in putting their team in pole position.

    But England were not going down without a fight and that man Root once again came to the fore, accounting for both Jonathan Charles and Chris Gayle in the second over of the match to leave West Indies 5-2.

    An over later Lendl Simmons was lbw to Willey for a duck and at 11-3 the West Indies were coming to terms with an abysmal start of their own with the bat.

    And as England’s players replicated the West Indies’ now trademark celebrations a packed stadium in Kolkata went from raucous to sombre as the near entirety of the 49,818 were stunned into silence by a rampant England fightback.

    Samuels was given a huge reprieve one ball after the Power Play when Jos Buttler was adjudged by the TV umpire to have not taken a clean catch off Liam Plunkett.

    It was a slice of luck that the West Indies needed and alongside Bravo the two managed to steady the ship.

    Samuels was fluent, finding the boundary regularly and rotating the strike comfortably.

    Final-over 6s

    • Ball 1: Smashed into the deep backward square stand.
    • Ball 2: Hit down the ground, over long-on.
    • Ball 3: The next maximum went over long-off.
    • Ball 4: Brathwaite got the party started with a six into the deep midwicket crowd.

    Bravo’s approach was in keeping with the West Indies’ ploy to clear the fence rather than accumulate throughout the middle overs and it looked for some time as though it would cost them.

    And just as Bravo began to try and up the ante he departed for 25 with his team 86-4 after 14 overs and the task at hand becoming increasingly arduous.

    But as the stakes got higher Samuels got better and back-to-back sixes off the otherwise frugal Plunkett meant the equation was 52 from 30 balls with the game hanging in the balance.

    England swung the pendulum back in their favour just a ball later as Andre Russell found Ben Stokes at the mid-wicket boundary to hand Willey his second wicket of the match.

    A third followed just three balls later as Sammy was given a ‘Champion’ send off by an animated Willey.

    But Samuels was still at the crease keeping his side in contention, setting up a nervy finish as West Indies went in pursuit of 27 from the final two overs.

    They duly delivered victory much to the delight of the Indian crowd.

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