ENGLAND v WEST INDIES, WORLD T20 FINAL: FIVE THINGS

England fell at the last in the final of the 2016 World Twenty20 as they were hit for 6-6-6-6 in the final over. Here are five things we learned…

MAN OF THE DAY – CARLOS BRATHWAITE

Oh. My. God. Cricket has been around longer than you or I, but has it ever known a finish like that? Four sixes – four huge, pulverized, soul-destroying sixes – to win it for West Indies. They needed 19 off the final over. A nigh-on impossible task. Ben Stokes had the ball. He’s not the greatest death bowler, but can definitely do a job. He’s performed in high pressure situations for England. Then there’s Carlos Brathwaite – a veteran of four international T20s, with 25 runs across all of them. The first ball was whipped over backward square leg. The second down the ground. The third down the ground. The fourth down the ground. Ben Stokes went to the ground. Brathwaite owned the ground. He also took three for 24 from his four overs Utterly devastating.

MARLON 85 off 66

They said he was going slow early on. His half-century came off 47 balls and there was a period, while batting with Dwayne Bravo, it looked like they were doing more harm than good. Samuels and England have a testy relationship that goes beyond a salute. Then the sixes came, England were put on the back foot. Brathwaite took West Indies to the peak but it was Marlon who ensured they could see the mountain.

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOT

On a track that took turn, in a situation that demanded a cool head and an appreciation of how to rebuild a T20 innings, Joe Root played an absolutely blinder. We shouldn’t be surprised – in fact, most of you probably aren’t – but where would England be, in all forms, without him. Luckily, we don’t have to worry about that right now. Coming in with the score eight for two at the end of the second over, with spin at both ends, he played the ball late but purposefully to ensure England got to 33 by the end of the Power Play overs. Despite coming to the crease in such a precarious situation, he managed to strike at 150, bringing up his fifty off 33 balls. Then, he bowled the second over of the chase and removed Johnson Charles and Chris Gayle. There really might be nothing he can’t do.

BADREE IS A CHAMPION

Unplayable in this mood. The key with Samuel Badree and his leg-spin is the trajectory and length: it’s flat, quick, back of a length and almost impossible to get away. He doesn’t just bowl darts, though. Eoin Morgan found out the hard way – undone by a cracking googly that nicked his outside edge on its way into Chris Gayle’s hands at slip. He conceded only two boundaries with England failing to score off 14 of his 24 balls.

CAPTAINCY A REMEDY FOR MORGAN’S FORM

A shoddy return with the bat from Eoin Morgan. Just 66 runs at 13, with a top score of 27 (against West Indies in the group stages) represents one of Morgan’s poorest runs in an England shirt. The one boundary he hit in his innings of five – flipped over cover off the front foot – is a shot he nails when he’s playing well. Unfortunately, it proved to be a bluff. But what Morgan lost in runs, he gained in captaincy points in the second innings. The decision to bowl Root in the second over proved inspired and he cycled through his bowlers very well. However, the runs will have to come sooner rather than later. Otherwise Morgan is holding back this team.