World T20 Finals – Too close to call

Game 1 – versus West Indies

The tournament opener started well for the English; their young batting unit came out all guns blazing and put up 182 against the West Indies at the Wankhede. All the batsmen, save Moeen Ali (who faced 2 deliveries) got on to double figures and surely England would’ve backed themselves to defend that total. It wasn’t to be however as Chris Gayle tore their inexperienced bowling apart. A 48 ball century by the big man meant that the Windies got there with almost 2 overs to spare, leaving the English bowlers with scars they will probably take into the big final.

Game 2 – versus South Africa

They got off to a nightmare start in this critical encounter as Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock put on 96 runs in the 1^st 7 overs. Adil Rashid and Ali pegged things back but the Proteas put up 229 in their allotted overs. Now this, I believe is where things have been different for England this time around; a young team with nothing to lose, they chased those runs down in brilliant fashion. Joe Root proved to the world once again that he is definitely one of the most talented batsmen in the game today and Jason Roy made his mark too. What resulted was a record chase in World T20s, that too against a bowling attack that included Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir.

Game 3 – versus Afghanistan

England’s batting was looking stellar so far, that is until they came up against a quality spin attack. Mohammed Nabi and 17 year old Rashid Khan had the English in all sorts of trouble at 85/7 but the Afghans lost the plot and Ali proved his worth once again, dragging England to 142 with the help of some lower order resistance. Fears of an upset were allayed when the English bowlers had the Afghans on 13/3 and a spirited comeback proved to be insufficient as Eoin Morgan’s England scraped home by 15 runs.

Game 4 – versus Sri Lanka

A must win game against an opponent that wasn’t really at the top of their game, England would definitely have come in confident of beating Si Lanka. Things proceeded according to plan for them as their top order fired once again and Jos Buttler gave the finishing hits to help them post 171. They then reduce the defending champions to 15/4 in 3 overs, game over right? Wrong! Angelo Mathews staged an incredible comeback and Sri Lanka came within touching distance of beating the English. A loss for England here would have almost certainly meant an exit. England’s performance in the last few overs was, in my opinion, the turning point of their campaign; Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett and Ben Stokes put in some great death bowling, a feature that the English game had been without so far, to end Sri Lanka’s and South Africa’s hopes of reaching the semis.

Game 5 – versus New Zealand

The big semi-final, many believed this would be the end of the road for England; yes they had been good so far, but there was no way they were going to beat the Black Caps. True to their form, New Zealand got off to a flier, making 90 off the 1^st 10 overs, for the loss of just one wicket. I believe England won the game in the next 10 overs; they gave away just 60 runs, picked up 7 wickets and wrestled the momentum away from the Black Caps. Stokes and Jordan went for 50 runs in 8 overs, while picking up 4 wickets between them.  Roy then put the icing on the cake and signaled his arrival on the big stage with a fantastic 78 off just 44 deliveries, England cantered home in 17.1 overs to seal their place in the finals.

Game 1 – versus England

Everyone knows that the Windies bowling is no their strong suit and this was further proven when the English made 182 on a belter in their 1^st game of the tournament. But Chris Gayle batted the way only Chris Gayle can and 182 seemed like a walk in the park for the men from the Caribbean. This didn’t do much to enhance their reputation as it was just one man who made a difference.

Game 2 – versus Sri Lanka

In this game, the Windies showed us that they were no longer a one trick pony. No Sunil Narine? No problem, Samuel Badree will do the job. No Chris Gayle? No problem, Andre Fletcher can hit ‘em big too. Against a sub continental team traditionally play spin well, Badree and Suleiman Benn went for 25 runs in 8 overs, with the former picking up 3 vital wickets. A few stutters with the bat were seen but truthfully the Windies never looked like losing this one.

Game 3 – versus South Africa

Restricting Sri Lanka to 122 may not have seemed like much of a big deal but when they did the same to the mighty South African line-up, a few eyebrows were raised. No mystery spin, no flashy fast men, just good, disciplined bowling got the job done with 4 of the 6 bowlers used going for less than a run a ball. This time it was Johnson Charles and Marlon Samuels who stepped up with the bat, yes once again there were a few stutters, but they got comfortably in the end. With the win, the Windies sealed their place in the semis, the 1^st team from group 1 to do so.

Game 4 – versus Afghanistan

Having already made it past the Super 10 stage, West Indies probably took this easy, thinking that having overcome all three of their more highly rated opponents, the Afghans would probably surrender with a whimper. They were in for a rude shock however as their big hitters were brought down to earth by a team that I hope we see a lot more of in the near future. The Windies bowlers did a more than decent job once again, restricting Afghanistan to 123 but Nabi, Afghanistan’s talisman and Rashid, one of the tournament’s brightest stars, teamed up to lead their team to a 6 run win.

Game 5 – versus India

Like England in the 1^st semi-final, the West Indies too came into this game as the underdog. Sure India had lost their opening game to New Zealand and had nearly (and probably should have) lost to Bangladesh in the Super 10 round but they were still the best all-round side and toppling them would take something special. Their chances didn’t seem too good when another Virat Kohli master class lead the hosts to 192, they were further depleted when both Gayle and Samuels were sent back very early into the chase. Yet just like England, the West Indies found men to get the job done and that night it was Johnson Charles, Lendl Simmons (who had landed in India a mere 2 days ago) and Andre Russell. Russell and Simmons put on 80 in just under 7 overs to break Indian hearts and complete one of the most exciting chases in T20 history.