Time to appreciate West Indies T20 skills. Year 2016 has been a great year for West Indies, Champions of Under-19 World Cup and now chance to win T20 World Cup in both categories Men and Women!
West Indies after winning the all-important toss elected to field first. India began their innings in great style, scoring their first 50 run opening partnership of the tournament. Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma off to a brilliant start as they hit 55 runs in the Power play overs. Rohit Sharma proved why he is regarded as one of the most dangerous batsmen in T20s and scored quick fire 43 of just 29 balls, hitting 3 fours and 3 sixes. Rahane coming in place of Shikhar Dhawan didn’t disappoint too. Rohit finally got out trying to flick Samuel Badree in the 8th over.
Selfie Expert OPPO F1 WT20 Match Analysis: West Indies beat India in an epic battle
Rahane was looking solid on the other end and was joined by Virat Kohli in the middle, the most consistent batsman of the ICC World T20.
Kohli began nervously. West Indies had two chances to him out with a single run on the board, but Denesh Ramdin and Dwayne Bravo missed the stumps off the same delivery.
Kohli took full opportunity of the chances and scored 89 runs of just 47 balls. Rahane and Virat scored 66 runs in 49 balls and set up a great launching pad for Team India. Rahane finally got out in the 16th over trying to hit a six over mid-wicket and getting caught by Bravo.
Kohli got going from where he left against Australia. He was superb in his shot making and placement. MS Dhoni joined Kohli after the fall of Rahane and both of them converted singles into double very nicely. Kohli struck 11 boundaries and 1 six during the course of his innings. India finally finished with 192 for 2 in their 20 overs.
Coming into chase the total, India’s biggest threat Chris Gayle was dismissed early by Jasprit Bumrah and Nehra got rid of Samuels in his second over. India restricted West Indies to 44 for 2 in first 6 overs.
Charles kept the scoreboard ticking with his timely boundaries and kept the West Indies chase going. He was joined by Simmons who arrived from West Indies before this match and played the innings of the day. Simmons along with Charles kept hitting boundaries and kept Indian bowlers under pressure.
Indian spinners went for lot of runs, Ashwin 0/20 in 2 overs and Ravindra Jadeja 0/48 in his 4 overs were disappointing. Wet outfield made bowling difficult and helped West Indies as ball was coming into the bat lot better. Charles scored 55 of 36 balls hitting 7 boundaries and 2 sixes. Charles was finally dismissed by Kohli and India had another hope of coming back in the match.
Simmons was joined by power hitter Andre Russell both of them scored match winning partnership of 80 runs in just 39 balls. Simmons, who got lucky thrice as he was dismissed on no-ball twice in the innings and once Ravindra Jadeja’s right foot had just touched the ropes when he was relaying the ball to Virat Kohli to complete a catch.
Simmons who just came before this match didn’t looked in any sought of discomfort and scored 82 of 51 balls hitting massive 5 sixes and 7 boundaries. Russell finished the innings in style by hitting boundary and six of Virat Kohli’s last over. Russell finished with 43 runs of 20 balls scoring 4 sixes and 4 boundaries.
West Indies finally sealed the victory with 2 balls to spare and 7 wickets in hand and confirmed their place in the finals against England at the historic Eden Gardens.
For the ICC World T20, the OPPO F1 Selfie Expert was the official sponsor and I had the chance to experience using my very own OPPO F1 WT20 Edition during the match and capture a few fun moments. It has a light and sleek metallic body, with the ICC World Twenty20 2016 logo engraved on the back as well and comes in a fun World Cup themed box.
Brief Score: India 192/2 in 20 overs (Kohli 89*, Rohit 43, Rahane 40, Badree 1/26) lost to West Indies 196/3 in 19.4 overs (Simmons 82*, Charles 52, Russell 43*, Nehra 1/24) by 7 wickets.
Tags: India, Match Analysis, OPPO F1, Selfie Expert, T20 World Cup, West Indies, WT20 Edition
