Mikey's World T20 Diary Day 27 - The Final

By Mikey Godsmark
The World T20 concludes today with both the West Indies and England aiming to become the first team to win the tournament for a second time. I preview the match at Eden Gardens.

Road to Final

England: On Friday 18^th March, England were heading out after De Kock, Amla and Duminy had combined to score 230 which was thought to be far beyond capable of an England team who had been severely exposed against the West Indies. However, this was not the England that had folded meekly at the World Cup and Root and Roy blasted England to the second highest T20I run chase of all time.

From there England haven’t looked back, a scare against an Afghanistan side who were unlucky not to progress further was next followed by a convincing win against holders Sri Lanka. What followed in the semi-final against New Zealand was a performance of true quality which illustrated just how far the England limited overs side has come in the last year. They are peaking at just the right time.

West Indies: Lead by Chris Gayle the Windies comfortably beat England in their opening game and from there beat Sri Lanka and South Africa to qualify for the semi-finals. It had been an easy campaign for them so far and when they played Afghanistan, in what was effectively a dead rubber, they played a much changed side. This side lost to the spin of the Afghans to plant the first seeds of doubt.

India were the opposition in the semis and with a sensational knock from Virat Kohli they posted a formidable 192 in their 20 overs, it was the biggest test of the tournament so far. However Charles and Simmons laid an extremely strong foundation which allowed Russell to hit 43 runs in just 20 runs to win. The West Indies look hard to beat.

Key Men

Jason Roy: In this World T20, Roy has become the batter on the international stage that he always has been for Surrey. His start against South Africa made England believe that they could do the impossible and he allowed the rest of the side to score at an easy pace after his sensational innings against New Zealand.

These two innings have been key to England's progression and along with Joe Root, England's batting looks like it has enough to cope with Eoin Morgan's sudden liking for golden ducks. If Roy can get going at the top of the order, anything is possible for England.

Chris Gayle: Gayle has made T20 cricket his own and, with his large and heavy bat, can take any white ball bowling attack apart on his day. One of his days was when the West Indies played England earlier in the tournament where Gayle preceded to smash his way to 100 not out in an innings that included 11 sixes.

If it wasn't for that the Windies probably would have lost but the match against India proved the level of T20 franchise experience in the squad with all having played in the CPL and with many having experience in the IPL or Big Bash. This added experience might well tell on the day.

Where the game will be won

Eden Gardens is a pitch that is expected in to have a reasonable amount of turn in it. West Indies will have Benn and Badree as their main spinners with Gayle providing backup if needed. Badree had a very good game in the semi taking the wicket of Sharma and being tight and economical.

All England teams seem to always have had a slight weakness against the turning ball with the 2013 tour to the UAE, being a particular example. None of the pitches so far have been raging turners as we have seen in Nagpur and if there is turn, England may struggle.

Against Afghanistan, Rashid Khan and Nabi ripped through the English top order in a display that showed a risk of collapse if there are demons in the pitch. Badree and Benn are different challenges rather than the exuberance of Khan and the experience and variation of Nabi. If England cannot just survive the spin but attack it, then they have a great chance.

Conclusion: This England side has been improving and improving the longer they play together and their performance against New Zealand couldn’t have been better. They bat deep so can attack from the outset. West Indies have a similar batting line up in terms of depth but it has more power. However, this game will be won with the ball and England’s bowling has improved remarkably since their performances the West Indies and South Africa.

Prediction: England win in last over.