Samuels, Brathwaite hammer England to lift T20 Cup

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Carlos Brathwaite scored an undisputed 10-ball 34, while Marlon Sameuls scored a mature knock of 85 off 66 balls to chase down a target of 156 runs set by England to win the World T20 final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.

Sameuls took on the England bowlers coming in after the top-order fell early.

The right-hander still saw three more wickets fall at the other end before Brathwaite came in and absolutely blew the English attack away.

Earlier, West Indies received a jolt in pursuit of the target of 156..

Joe Root struck twice in the second over of the West Indies innings after England captain Eoin Morgan handed the ball to part-time off-spinner.

Root dismissed Johnson Charles before bagging danger man Chris Gayle’s prize wicket.

Lendl Simmons who scored a match-winning 83*in Thursday’s semi-final against India was trapped in front by David Willey at naught.

In the first innings Dwayne Bravo and Carlos Brathwaite led a deadly West Indies bowling attack to restrict England to 155 for nine.

West Indies’ bowlers justified captain Darren Sammy’s decision to field first as Samuel Badree and Andre Russell put England on the backfoot at only 25 for three in 4.4 overs at Eden Gardens stadium.

Opening the attack for the Windies, leg-spinner Badree got Jason Roy clean out for a second ball duck and also accounted for struggling English skipper Eoin Morgan (5) in his third over.

Joe Root (54), who struck his third half-century of the tournament, and Jos Buttler (36) then came up with a fine re-building act to manage a 61-run fourth wicket partnership.

The duo seemed to be relishing the challenge as Buttler counter-attacked with a flurry of boundaries, being especially severe on left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn.

Medium-pacer Brathwaite got Buttler against the run of play when Bravo took a good catch at deep mid-wicket before celebrating with his customary ‘Champions’ dance.

Sammy soon cashed in on Bravo’s catch to bring him on to bowl and the medium-pacer obliged with two wickets in his second over.

England’s batting soon crumbled after Brathwaite got dangerman Root trudging back as a scoop shot turned out to be the in-form batsman’s undoing.

Braithwaite and Bravo shared three wickets apiece to hit England hard.

David Willey’s late cameo of 21 was studded with a boundary and two sixes and gave England’s total some respect.

However, the West Indies, boasting Chris Gayle, will fancy their chances of successfully chasing down 156 and clinch a second T20 title.

“We are in a good position,” said Bravo.

“The under-19s world champions did their part, the women did it too (earlier in the day by beating Australia in the final). Congratulations to them. Now it’s up to us to do the triple.”