Bal pips Chappell to the post in thrilling finish
A repeat of Star Wars IPL 2009
Cricinfo staff
22-Jun-2009
Tillakaratne Dilshan's rare failure cost Chappell the winner's post • Getty Images
Sambit Bal does it again. After having snatched victory from Ian Chappell on the final day of IPL 2009, Sambit pulled off a repeat on the day of the World Twenty20 final. And it was a victory by the slimmest of margins - 17 points.
What worked in Sambit's favour was his choice of trump. He went for Sanath Jayasuriya, who may have not scored many with the bat, but made up with his performance in the field, fetching 158 points. Then the double blow for Ian: he didn't have Jayasuriya in his team, and his trump, Tillakaratne Dilshan, disappointed for once, giving him a negative of 20. "It seems like it is compulsory for my trump to make a duck in the final," said Ian. "I had a worse day at Lord's than the Sri Lankan top order. Congratulations to Sambit, he's becoming a last-day specialist."
Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal and Angelo Mathews were common picks for Ian and Sambit, but Ian's other picks disappointed - Younis Khan and Mahela Jayawardene fetched him a combined total of just one point. Sambit's picks had a slightly better day - Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahzaib Hasan, Jehan Mubarak, Saeed Ajmal and Ajantha Mendis gave him a total of 64 crucial points. "I was sweating a bit with Ian's lead gradually increasing and my trumps not coming good recently, but I was confident because I had more transfers in the bank," said Sambit. "Jayasuriya was a gamble. I saw that Ian didn't have him, so I made him trump. He's a big-match player and even though he didn't click with the bat, he did the job for me. Winning two in two on the last day, is a reflection of how much this game can swing. It also shows this game is all about tactics"
It was Sanjay Manjrekar who had the best day in terms of points - 326 from Afridi, who was his trump, and 99 from Kumar Sangakkara. He finished with 5411, just 33 points behind Ian. "It was a good day for me in terms of points, but sadly I fell short," said Sanjay. "In hindsight, it was a few incorrect trump picks that cost me. But congratulations to Sambit, he played a smart game."
David Lloyd finished at No. 4 with 4189.