6, 6, 6, 6 ... and the Windies win WT20

The match in a tweet: U N B E L I E V A B L E!!! Carlos Brathwaite hits FOUR straught sixes in final over to hand #WI their second #WT20 title! #champions

The result: England 9-155 lost to West Indies 6-161 by four wickets

The Carlos

Needing 19 off the last over, Carlos Brathwaite stood tall and delivered the most amazing, unbelievable and incredible win in the history of the tournament. Ben Stokes, the gutsy England allrounder, was the bowler at the other end who slumped after each mighty blow sailed into the stands. You couldn't write it, and if you did, it would be in the fiction section. Four balls, four sixes, and the match that was England's for 19 overs of the run chase vanished.

The hero

While he might have some detractors, Marlon Samuels can still turn it on when he needs to. He hit his second ball for four off the dangerous Joe Root, then chipped along, picking up singles before unleashing on paceman Chris Jordan in the sixth over, cracking three boundaries in four balls. He survived a caught behind decision that was overturned by the third umpire (more on that below), before returning to his work collecting singles and the odd boundary, doing it all completely unfazed. 

Samuels' half-century came from a sedate 47 balls – the second slowest by a West Indian in T20 cricket – but he upped the ante once he reached the milestone, taking Liam Plunkett for four, six and six in the 15th over. As wickets tumbled around him, Samuels stayed vigilant, feasting again and again on the right-arm pace of Jordan. He was there at the end when Brathwaite went berserk, unbeaten on 85.

The consolation effort

Walking out to face the third ball of the match, Root looked world-class from the moment he tucked the venomous Samuel Badree to the leg-side for an easy single to get his innings underway. Operating a technique that's been lifted straight out of a batting textbook, Root's classic style seems out of place in the crash and bash T20 arena. But it sure is effective. A lovely back foot cover drive off towering left-arm orthodox Sulieman Benn produced his first four, and the right-hander peeled off a brace of boundaries off the gangly spinner two overs later. His calm temperament against the Windies spinners was equalled against the quicks, assuredly cutting and pulling short pitched deliveries to the rope. His half-century, from 33 balls, was met with a surprisingly resounding applause despite a majority of those in attendance supporting the men from the Caribbean. Root's innings ended four runs later when a scoop shot was gloved to the fielder – Benn – at short fine leg. As he strolled off, the broadcast caught the batsman sharing some heated words with his celebrating rivals which will surely attract some attention post-match.

Image Id: ~/media/C0EB48EB7FF446BF86794412C97CDDD8 Image Caption: Root pumped up for England in WT20 final // Getty Images

But his impact on the match didn't stop with the bat. Root was then asked by captain Eoin Morgan to bowl the second over of the Windies run chase having bowled just one over – for 13 runs against South Africa – in the tournament. What a masterstroke it proved to be – Root claiming Johnson Charles with his first ball and then, to the shock of the capacity crowd, Chris Gayle, both men holing out to Stokes in the deep.

The other consolation effort

David Willey was brilliant. The left-armer chipped in with a crucial 21 from 14 balls in England's innings, then changed the game with the ball during the run chase. Opening the bowling and getting the new ball to talk through the air, Willey conceded just one run from his first six deliveries. His ninth ball swung back from off to leg to trap semi-final hero Lendl Simmons for a golden duck. Willey then returned in the 16th over to confiscate two key wickets: power-hitter Andre Russell and captain Darren Sammy, both men caught in the deep. Safe to say the bustling allrounder was pumped up when he dismissed the opposition skipper, celebrating with the 'Champion' dance the Windies have embraced throughout the tournament to rub some salt in the wounds. It would come back to haunt him when the Windies had the last laugh.

READ: Sammy opens up on 'Champion' song

Image Id: ~/media/DBA28E3F3DDA45C3B862ABC2A1D96597 Image Caption: Willey mocks Sammy with 'Champion' dance // Getty Images

The start

After winning the toss for the sixth time this tournament – the odds of that happening are 64 to 1 – Sammy sent England in and couldn't believe his luck two overs into the match. As he has done all tournament, the world's No.1 ranked T20 bowler Samuel Badree opened the bowling, and after clearing the throat with an optimistic lbw shout from the first ball that was turned down, he took the umpire out of occasion by bowling opener Jason Roy. Roy was rooted to the crease, failing to move his feet to a slider from Badree that fizzed though a cavernous gap between bat and pad and onto the exposed leg-stump. Nine balls later, Roy's opening partner Alex Hales was sitting next to him in the dugout after his lofted flick down leg off speedster Russell found Badree waiting and catching at short fine leg. Badree was at it again in the fifth over, this time extracting an outside edge from the bat of England captain Morgan to the safe hands of Gayle at first slip.

The B Squad

Badree started it, Benn almost ruined it, Bravo brought it back and Braithwate finished it off. It was an entertaining and mostly successful evening for the West Indies B squad of Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo and Carlos Brathwaite. Badree's excellent opening spell of 2-16 in four overs was slightly offset by Benn's expensive three overs for 40 runs. Brathwaite removed the dangerous Jos Buttler for a rapid 36 off 22 balls before Bravo dismissed Stokes (13) and Moeen Ali (0) in the space of three balls. Big Brathwaite returned to claim the wickets of Root and Willey (21), as Bravo rounded out the innings with the scalp of Liam Plunkett. The only major downside is the shoulder injury to Badree, who appeared to have jarred his bowling shoulder taking the diving catch to remove Plunkett.

The controversy

Through Samuels, the Windies fought back after a horror start to be 3-37 after the six-over powerplay. Samuels had just belted Jordan for 14 runs in the previous over and helped wrestle some of the momentum back off England. But from the first ball of over seven, Samuels was ruled out caught behind by umpire Rod Tucker to express fast bowler Plunkett. Dejected, the batsman began a slow, long walk back to the dressing room, but as he crossed the halfway mark of his journey, the catch by 'keeper Buttler was replayed on the big screen showing the ball bouncing from glove to turf and back into glove. Samuels, upon seeing this, about faced and slowly walked back to the middle. While the decision on the field was out, third umpire Marais Erasmus had time to overturn the decision. And it was probably Samuels' sluggish retreat which afforded the third umpire an extra look at the catch. Ultimately, the right decision was made. Plunkett, clearly frustrated, held nothing back next ball, bowling a 146kph thunderbolt which reared off a good length and wrapped Samuels on the gloves.

The wash-up

The West Indies become the first team to win two World T20 titles, adding to their 2012 trophy they captured in Sri Lanka. It was campaign which had a lot of moving parts, a lot of contributors, and most importantly, a lot of success.

Image Id: ~/media/6FE202A952854A3FB462EEE3CFEC18C2 Image Caption: Stokes inconsolable after the loss // Getty Images

For England, they fell just short of winning their second title, but it was another step in the right direction for a team on the up and up in white ball cricket. Root was again the star for England, not only in the final but the entire campaign, with the positives significantly outweighing the negatives.

The reaction