Champions from the Caribbean

Rohit Mahajan

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, April 3

It boiled down to 19 runs off six balls for the  trophy everyone coveted — West Indies, 137/6, had Carlos Brathwaite (10 off 6 balls) on strike. Target 158. At the other end was Marlon Samuels, on 85 from 66 balls. You’d imagine Brathwaite would try to get Samuels on strike. Nothing of the sort — Brathwaite had a crazy solo project on his mind.

England’s Ben Stokes had the ball — first ball, half-volley on the leg side, smashed for a six to square leg by Brathwaite. Second ball, pitched up, smashed down the ground for another six. Third ball, pitched up on the off stump, smashed for a six over long-off. Huge shots hit into the stands. Huge, huge shots that crushed the spirits of the Englishman. Stokes looked like a man who’d seen a ghost.

One needed off three. The crowd switched on their cellphone lights, creating starry, starry stands. They shouted: “We want six, we want six!” Guess what Brathwaite did? Yes, he did it. Another six, this time over mid wicket. Straight into the crowd. This was crazy stuff, ending crazily the innings that began in craziness.

Unsteady start

The new champions went hammer and tongs for the runs from the start. But the chase didn’t take off the way it took off in their previous game, the semifinal against India. Johnson Charles fell in the second over, sending a delivery from Joe Root high for the man at mid-on, Ben Stokes, to catch. Chris Gayle (4) was dismissed by Root in the same over when the big man slogged the ball to Stokes, again, at long off. Lendl Simmons missed one from David Willey and was struck on the front pad in front of middle stump — 11/3 in the third over.

Samuels and Dwayne Bravo, visibly nervous, steadied the innings, with a stand of 75 in 11.3 overs. Bravo’s 25 came off 27 balls and included just one four and six each. Samuels benefitted from a bit of good luck when, on 27, he under-edged the ball to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler. Buttler claimed the catch and Samuels began to walk off — but replays suggested that the ball had touched the ground even as Buttler grabbed it. Samuels made England pay.

No control?

At the halfway stage, West Indies were in control, and it seemed they’d win on a canter. They’d chased 180-plus scores in the tournament two times. A mere 155 shouldn’t bother too much, it was thought. England’s effort was surely inadequate.

England innings suffered early setback through some acts of deception performed by Samuel Badree, the leg-spinner. When the batsman is swinging at everything, the bowler’s best chance of defeating him lies in deception. Badree, opening the bowling, got two key men out with some cunning bowling. Jason Roy (0) fell off the second ball of the innings when he failed to read a straight one. Roy played for leg-spin, but Badree had put fewer revolutions on the ball. The ball went straight to leg-stump, missing the inside edge of Roy’s bat.

Badree dismissed Eoin Morgan in the fifth over when he bowled his googly; the left-handed Morgan played for leg-spin, the ball spun the other way and touched the outside edge of his bat and travelled to Gayle in the slips. Alex Hales was the second out, having pulled a horrible short ball from Andre Russell to Badree at fine leg.

Morgan’s dismissal made it 23/3 in 4.4 overs. But then there was a revival — playing beautiful cricketing strokes, Joe Root had a stellar role in it, though Jos Buttler was more effective in the run-gathering. The two added 61 for the fourth wicket, Buttler getting 36 off 22 balls with three sixers and one four. There was a hectic collapse thereafter, and England lost three for one run, going from 110/4 to 111/7. Root was the last of these men dismissed when his attempted scoop shot off Brathwaite went straight to the man at short fine leg. Root’s 54, off 36 balls, included seven well-struck fours.

A few lusty blows from David Willey took England past 150. That seemed barely competitive. It led to a thriller.