Against popular opinion and expectation, the West Indies knocked India out of the ICC T20 World Cup to progress to the final. They will now play England at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday.
India played well to post 192 on the board but were outplayed by a brilliant West Indian batting unit. The kind of shots they played and the power-hitting on display was mindblowing, to say the least. It was heartbreak for the Indians fans to were praying for an Indian victory.
What are the factors that worked against India in this crucial encounter? Here are 5 reasons why India lost to West Indies in the semi-final.
The Windies had more firepower
To all the people who were saying that the West Indies are just a one-man team, the Windies have given a fit reply. In Chris Gayle, the team does have one of the most devastating power-hitters in the world. But they have more match-winners as they proved against India.
In Samuels, Simmons and Bravo, the West Indies have a devastating middle order. Charles and Simmons kept going and made sure they kept the scoreboard moving during the middle overs. Russell came in swinging and hit almost everything out of the park.
The fact that they still had the likes of Bravo, Sammy and Ramdin set to come in, shows the depth of their batting order. With so many all-rounders and a middle-order packed with fearless power-hitters, the West Indies had more firepower than India. No wonder they are such a dangerous outfit in this format of the game.
Lendl Simmons got three lives
For a man who has just flown in and played his first game of the tournament, Lendl Simmons played a superlative knock to take the Windies to the final. As a Mumbai Indians player, he knew the pitch well which also helped his cause.
But he got three let-offs which proved to be costly. He had slashed Ashwin and was caught brilliantly by Bumrah early on in his innings. But that turned out to be a no ball. Almost incredibly, Pandya was guilty of the same offense when he dismissed him later.
Simmons got a third chance when he was caught by a juggling effort by Jadeja and Kohli on the boundary line. But Jadeja's foot had touched the rope while completing the catch and it was declared to be a six. Even Simmons himself admitted after the match that he was very lucky.
The dew factor
Dew was always going to play a crucial role and considering the firepower that both the teams possessed while chasing, the toss became very crucial. It was a great toss to win for Sammy and he knew they would be much better off chasing.
The dew came in while the West Indies were batting and it became considerably difficult for the spinners to grip the ball. As the spinners started to struggle, the Windies instantly became dominant during the middle overs.
Even the medium-pacers had a tough time keeping the ball dry every time it went out on the wet outfield. The dew also made the outfield fast and the balls kept speeding away to the boundary. In the end, it was a bad toss to lose for MS Dhoni.
The Indian spinners struggled
India are heavily reliant on the spinners during the middle overs to choke the opposition. Ashwin had been held back and the faster bowlers had done a splendid job during the powerplay overs. It meant the spinners would play a deciding role after that.
As soon as the dew came in, the Indian spinners started to struggle not helping the team's cause. Ashwin who has been Dhoni's trump card only bowled two expensive overs. Also, the pitch did not seem to provide much assistance for the spinners though Samuel Badree did a great job with the ball.
With the dew coming in and the pitch not offering much spin, Jadeja started pushing through his deliveries like a medium pacer. But trying to fire it in wide did not work as he missed the mark too often and was taken for plenty by the Windies batsmen.
The middle overs made the difference
Simmons and Sammy said after the match that they felt India were about 10 runs short in their total of 192. 192 must have looked a great total to have on the board but it was always going to be difficult to defend against the Windies on a Wankhede track.
The Wankhede has been a batting paradise and has seen even a total of 229 being chased down by England earlier in this tournament. With a flat track, short boundaries and the possibility of dew later, a 200-plus total was required to put pressure on the Windies batsmen.
The difference proved to be the overs 7 to 15 during which West Indies managed to score 20-odd runs more than India. While Simmons and Russell kept teeing off, the Indian batsmen had slackened off during the middle overs.
It was the period when Kohli was settling in and Rahane kept nudging the balls away for singles or twos. Dhoni and Kohli ran magnificently well and accelerated during the last five overs but the middle overs hurt India in the end.
When it came to power-hitting, the West Indies took the game away during the crucial middle overs. Kohli played out of his skin once again but the other Indian batsmen could have done much more. India have been too reliant on one man in the entire batting department throughout the tournament.
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