Kohli gets second successive ‘Man of the Tournament’ award; Marlon Samuels named ‘Man of the Match’ for his unbeaten 85 runs
Kolkata: West Indies on Sunday created history by becoming the first team to win the ICC World T20 twice with a dramatic four wicket victory over England riding on Carlos Brathwaite four consecutive lusty sixes in the final over of the innings.
Chasing a tricky target of 156, it was Marlon Samuels, who did an encore of the 2012 final that Darren Sammy’s men had won, hitting a magnificent 85 not out off 66 balls with nine boundaries and two huge sixes.
However it was the unheralded giant Brathwaite, who showed why he commanded such a record IPL price from Delhi Daredvils scoring 34 off only 10 balls as he hit the four most important maximums of his short cricketing career.
With 19 runs needed off the final over, Brathwaite hit the first ball behind square for a six and the next was hit over long-on for a six and the third over long-off to basically bring down the equation 1 off 3 balls before finishing off with another hit over deep mid-wicket.
The entire stadium save a few English fans erupted in joy as the West Indies team members rushed to the field to congratulate the heroes.
It was one of the most beautiful sights as the women’s team also joined their men as the danced to the now popular Bravo rap of ‘Champion’ in unison. They took a ‘lap of Honour from an Eden Gardens that gave them a standing ovation.
The West Indies despite all their problems are now World Champions in U-19, women’s and men’s World T20.
For England’s bowling unit, the hero certainly would left-arm seamer David Willey, who had phenomenal figures of 3/20 in 4 overs with an astounding 13 dot balls as he increased pressure on the Caribbean batsmen before Stokes frittered it away.
Eoin Morgan took a calculative risk introducing part-time off-spinner Root in the second over and it turned out to be a masterstroke. Root snuffed out Chris Gayle (4) and Johnson Charles (0), both trying to hit a six and caught by Ben Stokes in the deep.
It was Morgan’s ability to play on Gayle’s mind that proved to be key. Gayle may thought about Moeen Ali and it was Root, who did flight the ball.
From 5/2 it became 11/3 as last game’s ‘Man of The Match’ Lendl Simmons (0) was caught plumb in-front as Willey got one to shape back.
In the final over of the Powerplay, Marlon Samuels (27) spanked three boundaries off Chris Jordan to take the score to 37. He had a close shave when he edged one off Liam Plunkett to Jos Buttler which Rod Tucker had given out.
But replays showed that the England wicketkeeper did not take the catch cleanly and the batsman got a reprieve.
However England bowlers maintained tight lines West Indies reached 54 for 3 in 10 overs needing 102 from remaining 10 overs. But Samuels and of course Brathwaite had other ideas.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was deservingly awarded the ‘Man of the Tournament’ for his brilliant performance in the ICC World T20, that concluded, here tonight.
This is the second successive time Kohli has won the award, after he was also named as the player of the 2014 tournament in Bangladesh following his 319 runs which helped India reach the final.
It was former India captain and CAB president Sourav Ganguly, who collected the award on Kohli’s behalf as the cricketer was not present in person.
“As a team, we have all loved the experience of playing in this event in front of big, passionate home crowds and I’m pleased the tournament in India has been successfully staged.,” Kohli was quoted as saying by the ICC press release.
“And I’d like to add my congratulations to the West Indies men’s and women’s squads for their successes,” he said. (PTI)