Sunday 3 April 2016

BRATHWAITE LEAD WINDIES TO SECOND WORLD T20 TITLE

West Indies Carlos Brathwaite (R) and Marlon Samuels celebrate victory over England in the World T20 final (AFP Photo/Dibyangshu Sarkar)
Carlos Brathwaite produced a batting masterclass in the last over of their innings against England at Eden Gardens to lead the Windies to their second World Twenty20 title in four years.

The 27-year old batman smashed four consecutive sixes in Ben Stokes last over to secure a four wicket victory for his side with two balls left to be bowled.

The Windies went into the last over needing a massive score of 19 runs from six balls,  with expert death overs bowler everyone thought England was well posed to clinch the title when Captain Eoin Morgan throw the ball to Stokes to bowl the last over.

Brathwaite proved his selection to the squad ahead of Jason Holder by hitting four maximums and leaving Stokes furious on the field.

Brathwaite finished the clash with match figures of 34 from 10 deliveries, while Marlon Samuels was named man of the match for his impressive score of 85 from 66 balls.

Brathwaite also finished the match with the best bowling figures by a Windies bowler. He took three wicket and conceded 23 runs in his four overs.

West Indies captain, Darren Sammy won his sixth toss of the tournament and sent the England at the crease to bat first.

England posted 155/9 in their 20 overs at a run rate of 7.75.
Joe Root and Jos Buttler were the highest scorer in England’s inning with Root scoring 54 runs off 36 balls and Buttler scoring 36 runs off 22 balls.

In reply to the target West Indies posted 161/6 with two ball remaining at a run rate of 8.18.
West Indies didn’t get off to a good start in their chase as openers Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles were dismissed at two and seven respectively through the bowling of Joe Root, with both catches taken by Ben Stokes.

Two retired cricket legends India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara applauded West Indies for their performance and victory in their twitter accounts.

@sachin_rt
 WI all the way!! True champions, be it u19s, women’s or men’s championship! Super staff by team WI! Brathwaite was breathtaking! #WT20Final

@KumarSanga2
Amazing game. What a performance by the Windies. Strong belief, stronger faith. What a statement in more ways than one. #Caribbean flair.

Skipper Darren Sammy praised his team performance saying they never “stopped believing”.

“The way Brathwaite did that was incredible. We now need to kick on in ODI and Test cricket,” Sammy said.

England Skipper Eoin Morgan shared his disappointment about the result saying the score wasn’t really enough.

“We should have got 180-190. Badree is a fantastic bowler and we didn’t play him well enough. The bowler were brilliant to give us a chance,” Morgan said.


India’s Virat Kohli was named player of the tournament for smashing 273 runs in five innings at a breathtaking average of 136.50. He scored three fifties including 89* in the semi-final defeat to West Indies.

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