World T20 Finals: Brathwaite miracle leads West Indies to second World T20 victory

Kolkata: West Indies have finally clinched the World T20 2016 title here at Eden Gardens in Kolkata after defeating England in the nail-biting final clash by four wickets.

 

It proved to be a golden day for the Caribbean cricket -- otherwise dogged by payment problems and tiffs between the players and the cricket board -- as their men scripted history to become the only side to lift the Wt20 crown twice, hours after the women emerged champion with an eight-wicket win over formidable Australia.

Chasing a target of 156 runs, West Indies needed 19 runs from the last over with four wickets in hand. Carlos Brathwaite showed magic with his bat smashing four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes helping West Indies win the World T20 Championship for the second time.

Marlon Samuels took West Indies out of the trouble situation with his heroic 85-run innings from just 66 balls that included 9 fours and two sixes. He made a swift 54-run partnership with Brathwaite from just 25 balls helping West Indies clinch the World T20 2016 title with four wickets remaining and two balls to spare.  

Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar tweeted to congratulate West Indies team for winning the ICC T20 World Championship 2016. 

Chasing a target of 156, West Indies were at one time struggling at 11/3 in 3 overs with their openers back in the pavilion.  

Caribbean run-machine Chris Gayle (4 runs from 2 balls) and last match's hero Lendl Simmons (0) could not perform today.

For England, David Willey bagged three wickets giving away just 20 runs in his four overs slot, whereas Joe Root got two wickets in the only over he bowled.         

Invited to bat first by West Indies, England recovered from early jolts to put a challenging total of 155/9 on the scoreboard. 

Joe Root, top scorer from the England side, made smashed 54 runs from 36 balls that included seven fours. He, along with Jos Buttler (36 off 22 deliveries), made a crucial 61-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Coming down at the 8th wicket, David Willey smashed 21 runs from just 14 balls with two sky-rise sixes helping England catalyse the run rate. 

West Indies, who won the toss and chose to field first, showed an exquisite bowling and fielding performance restricting England to 155/9 in 20 overs.

Dwayne Bravo and Carlos Brathwaite took three wickets giving away 37 and 23 runs respectively in their allotted 4 overs. Samuel Badree took two early wickets bringing England in pressure.   

Both England and West Indies registered 7-wicket win each in their semi final matches against New Zealand and India respectively to enter the World T20 finals.    

It is important to mention here that this is the second time West Indies have won the World T20 Championshiop. Earlier in 2012 World Cup, they had defeated Sri Lanka in the finals by 36 runs. 

India's star batsman Virat Kohli has been declared as Player of the Tournament for his 273 runs in five innings with an average of average of 136.5 and a strike rate of 147 that included three half centuires.