No praise is too high for captain Darren Sammy, coach Ottis Gibson, manager Richie Richardson and the West Indies team for winning the ICC World Twenty20 Trophy.
Defeating Sri Lanka on their home soil before 40 000 patriotic Sri Lankans in the Premadasa Stadium cheering on their cricketers was a fantastic feat. It was a continuation of excellence by Caribbean sportsmen and women on the global stage following the outstanding athletic exploits at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
To rebound from a heavy preliminary loss to their hosts was a tremendous turnaround but it appears the Caribbean cricketers were truly motivated from their massive 75-run semi-final demolition of the formidable Australian side.
Star batsman Chris Gayle threw down the gauntlet to Sri Lanka, openly declaring the West Indies would win the final and telling the Sri Lankan fans sorry.
Some may call it arrogance or even disrespect but that is the type of confidence that should be exuded as self-belief is a critical aspect of success.
Gayle was a non-factor in the final with the bat, facing 15 balls for three runs and hardly playing a shot in anger as he was stifled by accurate bowling by the Sri Lanka opening bowlers Angelo Mathews and Nuwan Kulasekara before falling in mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis’ first over, playing down the wrong line.
But set up by Marlon Samuels’ superb 78 off 56 balls after only eking out 32 runs for two wickets in the first ten overs, the West Indies bowled and fielded brilliantly for the most part to peg back Sri Lanka, who lost wickets regularly at critical stages, following Ravi Rampaul’s peach of a delivery to castle Tillakaratne Dilshan for a “duck”.
Samuels’ stature as a mature batsman has been growing rapidly over the past year and his knock was one of high quality, probably the best ever in this format, taking all things into consideration. His assault on pacer Lasith Malinga, clobbering him for 39 runs off the 11 balls he faced from him, including three sixes in the 13th over, was the turning point of the West Indies’ innings.
With that momentum, the pendulum swung and even though retiring Australian umpire Simon Taufel made a couple of blunders in giving out Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell shortly afterward, Samuels, along with Sammy’s cameo in the last two overs, gave the West Indies a competitive total that they could defend as 105 runs were plundered off the last 10 overs.
Victory aside, it was surprising that the West Indies kept faith with the same team which demolished Australia in the semi-final.
Moments before the match started, one of the many diehard fans gathered at Lucky Horseshoe in Warrens, where I had stopped on my way to Trents to watch the Sagicor General Super Cup semi-final between Maple and St Catherine, asked me if I would’ve made any changes to the winning semi-final 11.
Before a ball was bowled, I told him emphatically that yes, I would’ve excluded opener Johnson Charles and all-rounder Russell and brought in Dwayne Smith and Darren Bravo.
I gave him my reasons for the changes as Charles’ returns had declined significantly since his 84 versus England, and he was out to sea and really looked like a novice against Mendis when the teams met in the Super Eights. His confidence was low and I felt he wasn’t in the frame of mind or form for the occasion.
Also recognizing that Russell would’ve hardly been used as a bowler once Sammy backed his own bowling, something I thought he did not do throughout the tournament, I could not fathom why Russell would be retained exclusively as a batsman ahead of the likes of Smith, Darren Bravo or Lendl Simmons, who didn’t play a single match. My thinking was that Bravo’s ability to play spin bowling was required in conditions that would be spin-bowling friendly, rather than another big-hitter.
But all is well that ends well even though it is illogical not to change a winning team when there are players who are low in confidence and form.
I would like to take this opportunity to again commend the selection panel of chairman Clyde Butts, Courtney Browne and Robert Haynes for choosing a generally satisfactory 15-member squad of players ideally suited for the T20 format. Yes, there could’ve been a few changes but the balance was quite good and the final results are there for all to see.
Whereas the rules relating to broadcast rights on coverage of major sporting events should be respected, it is very unfortunate that the final wasn’t shown on our national television station and that there was absolutely no radio commentary. Every effort should’ve been made to successfully secure the necessary rights long before the start of the tournament, especially since the West Indies had been installed as favourites by some knowledgeable pundits. Imagine short-changing and treating West Indian cricket fans with such insensitivity during one their greatest moments after enduring some testing and turbulent times in the past two decades.
Instead, Barbadian cricket fans had to watch a tournament of much magnitude with worldwide appeal, either on the Internet or on ESPN 1 Caribbean. It just wasn’t satisfactory, and I want to tell the powers that be that it should be mandatory for all major matches involving the West Indies to be shown free-to-air on CBCTV8 and that radio commentary is also a must. Nothing else will suffice!