Hosted by India, the sixth edition of the men’s T20 World Cup proved to be one of the most iconic white-ball cricket contests in the tournament’s young history, featuring multiple high-scoring games and numerous other matches where the victory margin was less than 15 runs.
If you’re a thrill seeker, then reliving this World Cup is where it’s at, especially the final. Commentator Ian Bishop’s famous bellowing cry of “Carlos Brathwaite, remember the name!” can still be heard as the West Indian all-rounder pumped four consecutive sixes in the final over to secure a famous and unexpected victory for the Caribbean region.
With Australia getting ready to host the eighth men’s T20 World cup in October, let’s take a trip down memory to relive why the shortest format of the game continues to capture the imagination and excitement of cricket fans all around the world.
Here are the top five matches from the men’s 2016 T20 World Cup.
2. Samuels and Brathwaite Take West Indies To The Semis
South Africa needed to secure a vital victory in this game against the West Indies to keep their World Cup hopes alive, but unfortunately they fell just short of the mark thanks to the never-say-die batting of Marlon Samuels and Carlos Brathwaite.
The Proteas batted poorly throughout their innings, with only a solid performance from Quinton de Kock and small cameos from David Wiese and Chris Morris providing some respectability to their sub-par team score of 122.
Sensing an emphatic victory, the West Indies wasted no time asserting their dominance in the run-chase, however the South Africans had every reason to hope and believe when Chris Gayle departed in the first over, his stumps rattled thanks to a beautiful inswinger from Kagiso Rabada.
With South Africa now up and about having dismissed the dangerous Chris Gayle cheaply, the hunt was on to press further for more early wickets.
Legspinner Imran Tahir and David Wiese bowled beautifully to strangle the West Indies run-chase, but as long as Marlon Samuels was there, the men in maroon would continue to fight.
His uncharacteristically subdued 43 was an important knock that ensured the West Indies would creep over the line and into the semis.
South Africa didn’t make it easy though. When Samuels departed off the fifth ball in the penultimate over, the tension in the West Indies team camp was palpable, as many expected him to comfortably take his team to victory. All hopes fell on the little-known Carlos Brathwaite at the other end, who at that point had scored just three runs despite facing seven balls.
Needing nine runs off the last over to win, Brathwaite landed a heavy blow off Rabada’s second ball, launching it high into the stands at deep midwicket for a huge six! All hope seemed to vanish from the Proteas’ body language at that point, as the final three runs were quickly scored by Denesh Ramdin and Carlos Braithwaite to ensure the West Indies would come roaring into the semi-finals.
