Brathwaite blitz secures dramatic WI triumph

If one moment defined the 2016 World Cup, it was Carlos Brathwaite’s breathtaking hitting in the final over of the title clash against England. With 19 runs needed for victory, he stunned the England players and the neutral crowd at Eden Gardens, and sent their women counterparts who had won the title before the game into wild celebrations, by hitting Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes. It gave West Indies their second T20 title. It was a remarkable display of six-hitting anyway, but produce the goods in a game of such nitude underlined the all-rounder’s temperament. Marlon Samuels, unbeaten on 85 off 66 deliveries, wasn’t even called into action. Samuels though had an equally significant role in getting the Windies across the line. Chasing 156, Windies lost three wickets for 11 runs in a disastrous start to their innings. Much like the 2012 final in Colombo, where Samuels hit 78 off 56 balls for victory, the batter initiated a solid recovery that allowed Brathwaite to unleash his big hits in the end. In a team which had the likes of Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo, not many would have expected Samuels and Brathwaite to be the chief architects of victory. While Samuels was Player-of-the-match in the final, the Player-of-the-tournament-award t went to Virat Kohli for the second successive World Cup. Though India bowed out at the semi-final stage with a loss to West Indies, Kohli was class personified with the bat, scoring 273 runs including a majestic 82* in the successful chase of 161 against Australia in Mohali.