West Indies 137 for 6 (Samuels 78, Sammy 26*, Mendis 4-12) beat Sri Lanka 101 (Jayawardene 33, Kulasekara 26, Narine 3-9, Sammy 2-6) by 36 runs
Flair. Calypso. Frontrunners. Millionaires. Gold chains. Chris Gayle.
No, no, no, no, no and no. West Indies' first World Twenty20 win was
more digging in, refusing to give up, running and fielding like their
life depended on this match, stunning the home crowd, and pulling off
one of the most amazing turnarounds in Twenty20 history, especially
given the stage. The due share of flair came from one of the most
eye-pleasing batsmen going around. There's no need to add "one of the"
here, because Marlon Samuels played simply the best Twenty20
international innings ever seen when West Indies were down and the count
had reached about eight. A feedbacker to ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball
commentary asked if Samuels' 78 was the 281 of Twenty20 cricket.
Samuels was not just shouting for help from the burning deck. He danced
on that burning deck. He danced so well the burning deck became
attractive. And Sri Lanka were singed. So singed that arguably the best
Twenty20 bowler in the world went for 0 for 54. So singed that Ajantha
Mendis' figures of 4 for 12 in the final meant nothing to the result.
West Indies had been 14 for 2 after Powerplays and 32 for 2 after 10
overs, the fourth-worst and fifth-worst scores at these points in the
history of Twenty20 internationals. They even took 17 balls to score
their first run off the bat. Yet so breathtaking was Samuels' assault,
never mind the wickets falling around him, that Sri Lanka were too
stunned to respond.
It is also fair, in a way, that captain Darren Sammy contributed big to
the win. That the man who has led the team through times when others had
deserted it, despite obvious question marks over his skills, played a
crucial role on the big night of a tournament that had threatened to
make him almost superfluous ... When Samuels got out, West Indies were
still 108 in the 18th over. They needed a strong finish to keep
fighting. And fight Sammy did. He swung and ran like hell, turning three
ones into twos in the last over, hitting two fours around those
scrambles.
It was perhaps a little easy to carry on after Samuels had struck.
Samuels struck when Malinga had come back to try to deliver the knockout
blow. Samuels counterattacked sensationally. All Malinga had to do was
miss his yorker by a few inches in the 13th over, and Samuels stunned
him with three of the finest sixes: a flick over deep midwicket, a loft
over long-on, and a beautiful drive over extra cover. Still only 69 for 2
after 13, but it helped West Indies show fight.
Jayawardene wanted to nip that fight in the bud. He brought back
Ajantha, who responded with three wickets in his last two overs: Dwayne
Bravo, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard out of the way. Surely
Jayawardene had snubbed it all out?
Not quite. In between those two overs, Samuels continued his assault,
taking apart Jeevan Mendis. Then was the turn of the man widely
acknowledged as the best bowler in Twenty20 cricket. After hitting
Malinga for a four and a six, Samuels got a length ball, which he sent
onto the roof of the stadium - the biggest six of the tournament at 108
metres.
Angelo Mathews said during the break that West Indies were still 15-20
short. Perhaps they were, but the momentum of that onslaught - 105 in
last 10 - was huge. If Sri Lanka were not already in their shells, a
superb first ball from Ravi Rampaul sent Tillakaratne Dilshan's off
stump cartwheeling. His finger went to his lips. The crowd, though, had
already been stunned into silence.
Two of Sri Lanka's greatest cricketers were now in the middle, but like
the West Indies openers they were under pressure too. And would they
have thought of three previous World Cup finals that they had lost?
Jayawardene was too early into a sweep - a shot he plays better than
anybody else in today's cricket - and nearly gave Samuels a wicket in
his first over. Kumar Sangakkara kept hitting even poor deliveries
straight to fielders. West Indies kept squeezing harder and harder.
Such is the pace of Twenty20 that suddenly Sri Lanka were 39 after eight
overs, and while they had wickets in hand, they don't matter as much in
T20 as they do in more traditional formats. Most importantly, Sunil
Narine had shown in one over that he was going to turn the ball a long
way. Sri Lanka were running out of time, and needed to target somebody.
Sangakkara targeted Samuel Badree, and even though he hit a four, he
also deposited a long hop with deep midwicket. Sammy now put in another
squeeze. Mathews was finding that he had spoken too early. Three dots
later, he moved across and the stumps were laid prone. Sammy hit them
with a slower ball. Now it began to drizzle. Sri Lanka were well behind
D/L now, and Jayawardene had to take risks. Never really flowing in his
effort, Jayawardene mistimed a reverse shot, and holed out to point.
After that Nuwan Kulasekara was just a minor irritant to celebrations
the world had been waiting to watch. Gayle, who might have failed with
just 3 off 16, was the man dancing the hardest with every falling
wicket. He was also the first with his arm around Rampaul, who bowled an
over late in the piece that was as ordinary as his first wicket was
extraordinary.
After that 22-run over, Sri Lanka needed 44 from four overs, not unheard
of in T20. Sammy, though, had kept the trump card back. On cue, Narine
delivered Kulasekara's wicket. The birthday boy, Bravo, who had got a
shocker from the umpire when he batted, was the man at the end of the
two catches that finished the match.
The time had finally arrived to party, and West Indies partied as well as they had played.
