WI rule world in 20/20 cricket

Two global cricket titles in one day and the third in seven weeks have put West Indies on top of the world.

The crowning moment came last Sunday at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India, when with Carlos Braithwaite and Marlon Samuels at the crease, the West Indies needed 19{{more}} off the final over to win.

This they did with style, as Carlos Brathwaite hit the first four balls from England’s Ben Stokes for six runs each. The final hurrah was a recovery as the West Indies were 11 for 3 in pursuit of England’s 155 for 9.

Samuels’ 85 not out kept them in contention before Brathwaite’s match-winning blitz of 34 not out from 10 balls. Dwayne Bravo contributed 25 and Samuel in the process recorded the highest individual score in a Twenty/20 final, beating the previous best of 78, which he too had made in the 2012 final versus Sri Lanka.

In the West Indies’ reply of 161 for 6 from 19.4 overs, David Willey took 3 for 20 and Joe Root – 2 for 9.

Root scored 54 for England and Josh Buttler – 36 when they batted.

Brathwaite picked off 3 for 23, Dwayne Bravo 3 for 37 and Samuel Badree 2 for 16.

But it was slightly easier taking for the West Indies women, who had a pulsating eight-wicket win over Australia.

Australia, seeking a fourth successive World T20 title, chose to bat and posted 148 for 5, with Elyse Villani making 52 from 34 balls.

Australia skipper Meg Lanning hit three successive fours in her 52 and Ellyse Perry’s cameo 28 took their team to their final tally. Deandra Dottin took 2 for 33.

But Hayley Matthews hit a stunning 66 off 45 balls, with three sixes, in a stand of 120, with Stafanie Taylor, who struck 59. The West Indies won with three balls to spare.

It was the West Indies women’s first win over the Australians, as they had lost all of their eight previous T20 internationals.

West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor was the women’s Player of the Tournament with India’s Virat Kholi – the men’s recipient.

The men’s and women’s ICC titles followed the trumping by the West Indies Under-19 male team on February 14 versus India in Bangladesh.

The treble was historic for the West Indies, as it was firsts for the women and Under-19 teams, while the men’s outfit became the first to win two Twenty/20 titles. (RT)