10.35 pm The West Indies men and women will be playing their World T20 finals at Eden Gardens on April 3. We all said Chris Gayle would be key to the chase. What did we know? Charles, Simmons and Russell have sunk India in a tremendous display of power-hitting. They sent 11 balls into the stands at the Wankhede to go with 20 fours and that was too much damage for India to control.
Spare a thought for Virat Kohli. He's had an incredible tournament, and tonight it was him against the West Indies, and even his best wasn't enough.
Chandresh: "146 VS 92 - Thats the runs scored in boundaries."
Pradeep: "R Ashwin bowled 2 overs in a virtual QF, 2 overs in a semifinal both at home where he should be the Shane Warne or Murali. How do you call him World Class or World's best? Thats Dhoni's confidence on his premier spinner."
Hypocaust: "After that trouncing in the group stage, how many predicted West Indies v England would be the final line-up?"
Frost: "It will be fun to watch a revenge match between England and WI. No one had counted WI, but look at them. This is the magic of T20."
Lendl Simmons is Man of the Match: "I slept the whole flight, I had got a call after the Afghanistan game and they asked if I was fit to play, I said yeah ... I played for Mumbai, I enjoy this pitch. I think it was one of my better innings ... I got the opportunity to prove myself to my fans ... Playing on this pitch I know 180-190 was a par score ... the guys said they were ten runs short, I believed that ... I got three chances, two no-balls and a six went my way and I cashed in."
Gorango: "My heart goes out to Virat Kohli! Today he just needed a little supporting hand - like, a zero boundary over from someone... but no other Indian showed the same passion. I am sure you will lift this cup one day Mr. Kohli. Best wishes."
Siddharth : "Honestly, VK apart India did not deserve to be in the finals. Indian team management needs some serious look into the team composition, especially the bowling department."
Rushabh: "47 dot balls for WI vs 26 for India. But the WI bad balls went for 2 or 4, India's bad balls went 4 or 6, mostly 6. That was the difference today."
Sammy, still with his pads on: "We knew it was going to be a massive step, against a very good India team, I must commend the whole team, we knew halfway they were 10 runs short. Even when we lost Gayle, Simmons just off the flight, he and Charles ... I was just praying we win the toss, I surprised myself winning five out of five. We came here on a mission, we were inspired by the U-19 boys earlier this year, the ladies won earlier today, now we have two West Indies team in the final. We feel this is this West Indies team against everyone else. everyone said Chris is under pressure but I said it, we have 15 matchwinners. Today Charles, Simmons and Russell took that responsibility."
Believe, says Sammy, when asked to describe in one word what the feeling in the West Indies dugout was during the finish.
Dhoni: "It was a bad toss to lose (because of the dew), when we started bowling ... the spinners did not have much on offer, we have a history of problems when the spinners bowl with a wet ball ... the only thing I am really disappointed it the two no-balls ... There was not much on offer, we wanted our fast bowlers to make a game out of it at the time, the conditions were very tough ... It's a demanding format ... It can be draining because a few of the games were very close, but we were up for it."
Abhi: "Not because India lost today, but I really feel it's not fair to choose these type of grounds for night matches where dew is such a huge factor. You win the toss, you win the match. Everything else is just entertainment."
Well played, West Indies. Against the odds, without Chris Gayle's big hitting. Those rockets from Simmons and Russell will live long in the memory. See you Sunday. Thank you for all your emails today. I'm going to have a lie down in a while, plenty of work to get through before that. Thank you for reading. Good night.
Vamsi: "Kohli to bowl the last over, defend and complete taking the mantle from Sachin ?"
VIRAT KOHLI IS BOWLING THE FINAL OVER. Who would have thought it would come to this?
END OF OVER:19 | 12 Runs | WI: 185/3 (8 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 9.73, RRR: 8.00)
- Andre Russell33 (17b)
- Lendl Simmons81 (50b)
- Ravindra Jadeja4-0-48-0
- Jasprit Bumrah4-0-42-1
Dhoni talks to his bowler. Grim faces in the crowd. Tense.
They are changing the ball because that was lost in the crowd.
Vish: "Two styles of cricket here... India were dying making singles, where WI, blindly swings for a whopping 4 or 6."
West Indies need 20 off two overs. This is a game of nerves now. Dhoni sets his field, he has a helmet on. So Jadeja is going to bowl.
END OF OVER:18 | 12 Runs | WI: 173/3 (20 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 9.61, RRR: 10.00)
- Lendl Simmons80 (49b)
- Andre Russell22 (12b)
- Jasprit Bumrah4-0-42-1
- Ashish Nehra4-0-24-1
Shakeena: "He is a cat this Lendl Simmons..."
Akshay: "Tough job for Dhoni here with Bumrah having just one left & need to rely on Ashwin and Jadeja to defend the score at the last."
West Indies need 32 off 18 balls to qualify for the final. Their Women's team are already in the final. What a night it would be for them ...
END OF OVER:17 | 10 Runs | WI: 161/3 (32 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 9.47, RRR: 10.66)
- Lendl Simmons68 (43b)
- Andre Russell22 (12b)
- Ashish Nehra4-0-24-1
- Jasprit Bumrah3-0-30-1
Mohit: "For all the talk about hard running between the wickets, this 'stand and deliver' is SIX times better! "
Devansh: "Can India get out of jail just one more time? Over to Dhoni"