Five memorable moments from the World T20 final that don't fade away

And the tournament has concluded. And, my oh my, in what fashion. The final of such a prestigious tournament had to end as a spectacle and we weren’t disappointed.

People always remember a final that goes down to the last over—and this one was just that. With 19 needed off the last over, Ben Stokes might have thought it was going to be relatively easy for him. Little did he know that he was going into his worst nightmare.

While we feel sorry for Stokes, we can’t help but deny that we all just love watching the West Indians celebrate.

Here are 5 moments which will remain in the fans' memories for a long time, just like the Axe Signature line of body perfumes that don't fade away:

Badree’s start

Jason Roy has been the reason for England’s stronghold batting this tournament. His exceptional ability to smack the ball in all corners of the field gave England many good starts in this tournament, despite Alex Hales’ poor run of form.

So England, naturally, were hoping that he got them another blazing start, but it wasn’t to be.

Darren Sammy made a cunning move when he got Samuel Badree to start the bowling innings of West Indies. And it worked like a charm. With just 23 runs on board, England had lost 3 wickets within 4.4 overs.

Samuel Badree’s start pushed back England, but then a…

Buttler and Root’s comeback

Jos Buttler and Joe Root led the fightback for England.

…ensued. One can actually pinpoint the three players who have stood out for England in this tournament: Jason Roy, Joe Root and Jos Buttler. The 3 J’s have performed with consistency and scored the bulk of the runs for their team.

As Jason Roy made a rare failure today, Joe Root and Jos Buttler took it on them to take England to safety. These two put up 61 runs together before the wicketkeeper-batsman fell prey to Carlos Brathwaite.

Root, however, kept moving forward and as he scored 54 runs in 36 balls, playing another gem of an innings to help England to a fighting total.

West Indies’ poor start

Joe Root celebrates after pickng up Chris Gayle in his first over.

The target to chase was only 154, which was puny compared to the 183 they chased down against England in the previous game. Eoin Morgan decided to use Root as Willey’s partner for the new ball—a move which stunned many.

However, with his first ball itself, he got the wicket of the very dangerous and consistent, Johnson Charles. Two balls, Chris Gayle was gone—and Root now did it with the ball. By the time the 15th ball of West Indies’ innings was bowled, they had lost 3 wickets and had only 11 runs to show for it.

It was uncharacteristic of the Caribbean team as glimpses of their game against Afghanistan could have been seen. However, the seemingly sinking ship was saved by…

Marlon’s masterclass

Marlon Samuels en route to his man of the match knowck in the final.

2012 World T20 final. A similar situation, only this time, his team was chasing. Everyone around him were falling like rain during monsoon season, but he stood there unmoved like a mountain in the midst of a tornado.

Against Sri Lanka in 2012, he scored 78 in 56 balls in a game where only two among the rest of his team-mates reached the double digit figure while batting. Against England this year, he scored 85 in 66 balls in a game where only two among the rest of his team-mates reached the double digit figure while batting.

The similarities are uncanny. It just goes to show that when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. However, unlike last time, he didn’t do it all alone as…

Brathwaite becomes the Calypso king

Brathwaite won the game with his knock of 34 from 10 balls.

When Delhi Daredevils bid a staggering 4.2cr rupees, people were flabbergasted. “Brath-who?” quipped people as they couldn’t fathom why Delhi spent so much of their budget on a relatively unknown player.

But today he showed why.

As 19 runs were required off the last over, the game was supposed to be as good as over the Windies. But, as they say, it’s never over before the finish line. Brathwaite started off with a six. 13 in 5. Still a hard chase. Another six. 7 off 4. Now, the momentum was in WI’s favour.

And he did it. He hit 2 more sixes to finish it off. The best part? Two of them were completely untimed—just goes to show his raw power.

His bowling figures were spectacular too as he finished the game with an economy of less than 6, ending his quota of 4 overs after taking 3 wickets and conceding just 23 runs.