England v West Indies
Wisden's review of England v West Indies
Jonathan Liew
15-Apr-2017
At Kolkata, April 3, 2016 (floodlit). West Indies won by four wickets. Toss: West Indies.
On a sweltering evening at Eden Gardens, West Indies became the first team to win the World Twenty20 twice. But their victory felt unique for another reason: as far as anybody could remember, nobody had ever won a game, let alone a global final, quite like this. With six balls remaining, they required 19. But the night smelled faintly of possibility. Now, four consecutive sixes from Brathwaite off Stokes capsized a match that had seemed England's for the taking. By the time his third six levelled the scores, the West Indian players were embracing in the dugout. Stokes, whose death bowling had been so effective throughout England's journey to the final, was a broken man. The fourth six felt sadistically emphatic - like shooting a corpse between the eyeballs.
On a sweltering evening at Eden Gardens, West Indies became the first team to win the World Twenty20 twice. But their victory felt unique for another reason: as far as anybody could remember, nobody had ever won a game, let alone a global final, quite like this. With six balls remaining, they required 19. But the night smelled faintly of possibility. Now, four consecutive sixes from Brathwaite off Stokes capsized a match that had seemed England's for the taking. By the time his third six levelled the scores, the West Indian players were embracing in the dugout. Stokes, whose death bowling had been so effective throughout England's journey to the final, was a broken man. The fourth six felt sadistically emphatic - like shooting a corpse between the eyeballs.
It was tempting to attribute this remarkable reversal to some unquantifiable outpouring of belief: the surging pride of the islands, the underdog spirit of a group of players chided and derided in equal measure. Yet it was simpler than that. To borrow the modern coach's parlance, West Indies simply executed their skills better when it mattered. This applied not merely to the final over, but to their all-round performance. Brathwaite's innings supplemented his three wickets with the ball, but it was not deemed enough to win the match award. For the second time in three finals, that honour went to Samuels, for his unbeaten 85, the highest score in a World T20 final, beating his own 78 in 2012. Badree also had a claim. Striking with the second ball, as Roy stayed fatally back, and bowling his entire spell from the start, he wreathed the England top order in a pythonine grip, from which they were only partially able to escape. From 23 for three, Root and Buttler, who hit Benn for three
sixes in five balls, jabbed the innings into life with a stand of 61. But three wickets in four deliveries - Root the last of them, caught at short fine leg attempting a scoop - left England 111 for seven, with nearly six overs remaining. Willey helped keep them in the game, though, and no team had overhauled more than their 155 for nine to win a World T20 final.