Virat Kohli to Andre Russel, six! It was all over for India as West Indies stormed into the finals of the 2016 T20 World Cup. The journey was over. The crowd was stunned into silence at one of the loudest stadiums in the country, the Wankhede.
Eight runs were all that the West Indies needed from that last over to make it to the finals. With seven wickets in hand and one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket, Andre Russel at the crease, there was no way India could have turned around the inevitable.
R Ashwin, who has made it to the squad this time around after missing from the T20 setup for a while, was available that day for the last over but MS Dhoni gambled on Kohli instead. The gamble didn't come off this time.
But how did the match reach there?
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Chris Gayle, arguably the biggest threat in a run-chase, was cleaned up by Jasprit Bumrah in a matter of just six deliveries. Ashish Nehra scalped Marlon Samuels, and the West Indies were reeling at 19-2 in a chase of 193.
In came Lendl Simmons and that day he was blessed with the presence of Lady Luck on his side. Playing his first match of the tournament, Simmons first got out to Ashwin at 18 and then to Hardik Pandya at 50. Both dismissals came off illegitimate deliveries.
Charles played a handy knock of 52 before Dhoni asked Kohli to deliver an over who had earlier scored a scintillating 89. It felt like Kohli could do nothing wrong that day.
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The dismissal of Charles brought in a T20 specialist and a very familiar name, especially in Kolkata, Andre Russel.
Russel and Simmons were in their zone and didn't let the Indian bowling unit a sniff by losing a wicket bridging the gap between balls remaining and runs to get.
By the time the game boiled down to the last over, the odds were heavily in favour of West Indies. The first ball went for a single. The equation was down to 7 runs off 5 deliveries. The next ball to Andre Russel was a dot. The hope against hope gave a small flutter in the hearts of Indian fans.
Hope might be a very good thing but false hope, not necessarily so. On the very next ball, Russel connected. It was a boundary. Next delivery, and it was all over. Russel smashed and the ball soared over the boundary.
The inevitable did happen. MS Dhoni failed as Virat ran out of luck that day.
(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)
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