Inasmuch as West Indies played some of their most abject cricket towards the end of 2015 in Australia, in three short months, there has been the most remarkable turnaround imaginable. An Under-19 championship, and now the men's and women's T20 crowns.
Of course, the Test team and the T20 team share very little except the logo on the shirts. And yet, in a delicious irony, two of three Test players in the starting XI for the World T20 final, Marlon Samuels and Brathwaite himself, were the unlikely heroes at the death. There were times in the summer when the chances of Samuels ever playing any form of cricket for West Indies were possibly questionable. Eighty-five not out in a winning team? Never! At a time of rebirth, it seems incongruous to say the West Indies' triumph rings the death knell for their long-form cricket aspirations. Yet one cannot but wonder if that magnificent finale by Carlos Brathwaite spells the end of Test cricket, maybe even ODI success, for this mighty cricketing nation.
Darren Sammy's emotional speech after winning the World Twenty20 for the second time has landed on a few ears, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) being one of them. The members of the much-maligned cricket board have agreed to sit down with Sammy for negotiations in May 2016, according to an ESPNCricinfo report.
After being criticised for not supporting the team, WICB president Dave Cameron stated that he would meet the players in May and find a "common ground" where the best cricketers from the region can represent West Indies.
During the post-match presentation, Sammy made strong statements against the board. The West Indies skipper, told he received mails, messages and well-wishes on the eve of the final, but was "very disappointed" not to have heard from WICB. Cameron, reacting to Sammy's outburst, termed the comments "inappropriate" and said he was disappointed to hear that from his captain.
"Badass" is a word often thrown around lightly. Not for Marlon Samuels. Having won his second Man of the Match award in World Twenty20 finals, Samuels came for his press conference still in his pads. The England press conference was on when he arrived, and he sat and waited, accepting congratulations from those working in the media centre. About five minutes had gone by when he finally lost patience, and inquired when the thing would start. He had come without the West Indies media manager and he was going to do things media managers lose their jobs for.
Finally Eoin Morgan left the press conference room. They didn't look at each other. Samuels walked in. Sat sideways because he was wearing pads, and couldn't stick his legs under the table. The ICC representative, who was going to coordinate the press conference, tried to explain to him the cameras were in front. In a heaving room, though, Samuels had the audience on side. Without moving his head, he looked at the cameras and asked, "Are you ready for me?" No one objected. They'd be damned if they objected to him.
Write off West Indies cricket at your peril. Less than four months in, 2016 is already a year of great celebration and renewal for cricket in the Caribbean. West Indies won the Under-19 World Cup. West Indies won the Women's World T20. And now West Indies have won the World T20. In doing so, Darren Sammy's men have become the first team to win two World T20 tournaments, having also triumphed in Sri Lanka in 2012.
Those are the facts. The how is all the more extraordinary. Set 156 to beat England and win the championship, West Indies found themselves needing 19 off the last over, to be bowled by Ben Stokes. Marlon Samuels, who had steered the chase, was on 85. But he was at the wrong end. This was all down to Carlos Brathwaite, the allrounder who emerged on the Test tour of Australia just a few months ago.
Six. Six. Six. Six. Job done with two balls to spare. The first one was a poor ball from Stokes, down leg, clubbed over deep backward square. Then a length ball slammed down the ground over long-on. Then over long-off. One run needed. Push a single? Why bother when you have the power, like Brathwaite, to crunch another six over the leg side. The West Indies players streamed onto the field in jubilation. They had not only done it. They had done it in style.
At her pre-match press conference, Stafanie Taylor, the West Indies Women captain, had spoken of how Dwayne Bravo had gently rebuked her for not doing the ‘Champion’ dance enough. On Sunday (April 3), Taylor batted almost to the end as the West Indies pulled off the greatest run chase in the history of the women’s game, overhauling Australia’s 148 for 5 with eight wickets and three balls to spare to be ICC Women's World T20 2016 champions.
Hayley Matthews struck a marvellous 45-ball 66, complete with six fours and three sixes, to steal the headlines, but Taylor’s utterly assured 59 (57 balls) was as immense a knock in the most clinical of chases.
Till Sunday, Australia’s successful pursuit of England’s 105 in 2014 had been the biggest in a women’s final. Knowing that it would have to create history, the West Indies started circumspectly, with a Taylor on-drive off Megan Schutt the only four in three quiet overs that went for just nine.
