The final tussle
in the bid to be called the World T-20 championship 2016 has come down to two
teams, England and West Indies. And it’s no secret that they have also been the
most consistent and balanced side of the tournament which started with ten teams
(top eight seeds and two qualifiers.) But before progressing forward let’s have
a word about the defeated semifinalists. New Zealand; they are still the
perpetual bridesmaids (why persist with pace? and hold Santner, your best bowler
of the tournament and allow the opposition to get settled) and India; is still a
one man team previously it used to be Sachin Tendulkar and now it is Virat
Kohli (some might not agree with the statement.)
The all
important final going to be held at Eden Garden, Kolkata will have two
opponents that have grown throughout the tournament. The West Indies’s tenacity
of bouncing back after the humiliating loss to Afghanistan (their last group match) to beat the host and much favored India (two no ball or not, Virat
also got a number of lives) in the semis and likewise the way England side came
back to win all their matches after suffering from a Chris Gayle storm in their
opening outing. Come 3rd of April it will be interesting to see whether that
mauling by Chris Gayle has an effect on the English bowlers, keeping in mind
that Gayle has not fired after that hundred. Another important aspect will be the team’s non reliance only on their
star batsman, Joe Root for England and Chris Gayle for West Indies. As both
batting orders have shown that they are quite capable of withstanding pressure
and bringing the prize themselves, like Jason Roy and Lendl Simmons have ably
demonstrated in their team’s respective semifinal wins. There are other talented batsmen on either side
with the like of Buttler, Morgan, Johnson Charles and Samuels very much capable
to becoming the hero. Both the teams possess good arsenal of spin
bowling which even out with leg-spinners Rashid and Badree, ably assisted by
Ali and Benn. There is a marked difference with their pace bowling while
England rely upon the swing of Willey, yorker bowling capability of Jordan
and pace of Ben Stokes, on the other hand West Indies only employ one genuine fast bowler Russell and use
the line and length of Brathwaite. Having said that, the presence of Dwayne Bravo with his slow cutter and IPL experience tilts the balance in West Indies favour. It will be interesting to see whether the rich IPL experience gives West Indies players edge in overcoming the English who only Morgan, their captain with any IPL experience.
We have two
teams that cancel out each other’s pluses and negatives, so as audience one
can only hopes that they bring their A
game to the table. Whoever becomes the winner? Is anybodies guess. Nonetheless
it will be world cricket that become richer, as by the end of the match cricket
may have re-found the sleeping giants West Indies or are seeing the rise of the new and exciting English side that has shed away their boring and traditional cricket tag.
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