Final: England Vs West Indies – Eden Gardens, Kolkata 03rd April 2016 - ICC WT20 Match Preview
These two teams met at the Wankhede in the group stages where Gayle trashed the English bowlers to all nooks and corners of the hallowed Mumbai stadium and win them the game. Now these two teams will meet again, this time at the famed Eden Gardens in Kolkata, for the ultimate prize and to be crowned as the World T20 Champions.
Barring the Kiwi’s who were defeated by England in the semi finals at Kotla, England and Windies have been the teams to beat in this WT20. They have been consistent and different members of their team have had an impact on the team’s fortunes right through the tournament.
The English batting has been propped up by Hales and Roy at the top who are followed by a sublime Joe Root. Although Eoin Morgan has failed with the bat, but his captaincy has been impeccable. Buttler has gone about his business in his regular fashion, butchering the ball to the fence with gay abandon. Stokes and Moeen Ali have done reasonably well in whatever little opportunity that they have got. They also have Jordan and Willey who can give the ball a good tonk lower down the order.
The West Indian bowling is largely dependent on their spin bowlers in Benn and Badree and both of them have succeeded in stifling the opposition with their immaculate line and length. Badree has been potent in the powerplay overs while Benn after the completion of the same. Russel and Bravo have provided the seam bowling option along with Carlos Brathwaite and all three have been clever with changes of pace and use of variations.
The West Indies batting line up induces horror and terror in many a bowling line up getting ready to face them as it is littered with match winners and powerful strikers of the cricket ball. They have the Gayle force at the top and him having already destroyed the English attack once in this tournament, they will be extra cautious of him. Charles, Samuels, Simmons, Bravo and Russel have all won the Windies a game or made significant contributions right throughout the tournament. Sammy and Brathwaite are amongst the hardest hitters of the cricket ball and they can easily win games on their own on a good day.
The English bowlers struggled with dew in Mumbai when these two teams met at the Wankhede but they were literally blown away by the #UniverseBoss, Chris Gayle that night. Willey has swung the ball nicely in the early overs and he will pose a threat to Gayle if he can get his line and length spot on. Jordan started off poorly but has improved as the tournament has gone on and along with Stokes have been the go-to men for Morgan in the death overs. With the Eden pitch likely to assist spin bowlers, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali will be key components of their bowling attack. There is also Liam Plunkett who provides a pace bowling option for them.
Both England and West Indies have won this tournament before and both of them will be raring to go at each other for what will be a thrilling finale to this hugely exciting edition of the WT20 2016. Both the teams are packed with belligerent hitters and powerful strikers of the cricket ball who can tear through any bowling attack in the world. The Windies might just have the slight advantage having already beaten the English just a few weeks ago and on account of possessing more versatile players in their squad.
I would love for this match to be a close one but want the Windies to win as they are a team that always plays for the crowd and their celebrations are one that clings on to your memory long after the game is over!!
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