West Indies Rising - The Caribbean Kings’ journey to World Twenty20 glory [Part 2]
Continued from Part 1 …
Riding on the back of a fair few victories in 2012, the team went into the World T20 in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 branded with the tag of favourites. Not only had the upward struggles of the team captured the attention of the fans, the West Indies was blessed with a handful
of made-for-T20 players, among them http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KA-Pollard-c1754. Having displayed an upward trend in terms of performance throughout the year, the Windies’ efforts bore fruit during the World T20, with the team going on to lift the cup –
their first major victory since 2004.
In this regard, when viewed in context, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760’ progression through the ICC World Twenty20, 2012, is an extraordinary journey, culminating in a satisfying victory. A new format which is struggling to establish its credibility on the international
cricketing stage, but has already developed a devoted fan-following, T20 emerges as the most well-suited format for the West Indies, and for a team like them to be crowed the T20 champions of the world seems inexplicably fitting.
The Windies played two warm-up matches prior to the actual World T20, but displayed erratic form – the first match, against Sri Lanka on September 13, saw the host team going on to claim a 9-wicket win, with 26 balls remaining, over their visitors. While
the West Indies followed it up with an 8-wicket win over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 Full Member yet.
Having been placed in Group B for the group stages of the tournament alongside http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 and Ireland, the West Indies’ World T20 campaign kicked off with a 17-run defeat at the hands of the Aussies in a rain-affected clash at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo
on September 22. Batting first, the Windies posted a solid total of 191 despite the pace assaults of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Marlon-Nathaniel-Samuels-c74804 (50) smashing half-tons. However, rain interrupted, and the revised target
for the Aussies as per D/L calculations was 84 from 9.1 overs, which they went on to chase with ease, reaching 100 in the allotted overs.
The West Indies’ second and final group stage match was scheduled to be played against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ireland-c751 in Colombo on September 24. Rain did not allow the match to proceed as planned – however, the Windies were propelled to the Super Eights stage of the tournament
owing to their superior net run rate, as compared with that of the Irish team.
The team went on to commence the next stage of the tournament with a phenomenal 15-run victory over defending champions http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Johnson-Charles-c69060 (84) and Gayle (58) set up a massive 103 run stand, and the team went on to reach 179 by the
end of 20 overs. Putting forth a synchronised performance, the batsmen’s efforts were followed up by an intense bowling attack, which successfully defended the total. Rampaul (2/37) set the foundation by dismissing both http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LJ-Wright-c1841 on
duck in the first over, and he was aided by Samuels (1/32) and Gayle (1/27), who had by now, in his quintessential attention-grabbing style, started punctuating every victory with a celebration ala Gangnam Style (a dance move popularised by South Korean rapper
PSY).
Continued in Part 3 …
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