Intoxicating day and night of pure Caribbean theatre

This will go down as the greatest climax of all time.  The principal character in the deux ex machine – Carlos — was no stealthy assassin creeping up on his prey. He was under the arc lights as millions watched and he struck four almighty blows scything out the England’s heart in the greatest of night and day for West Indian cricket. With the arms of a blacksmith signifying the awesomeness of power, Brathwaite had us all holding our breath as the target board announced 19 to win off the last over.

Even Kapil Dev’s four sixes off Eddie Hemmings pales in comparison. That was in a four-innings Test when one quarter of the game was hanging in the balance. This was a challenge of an altogether different order. Nineteen needed off the final over and a free-flowing Samuels not on strike. England must have believed they were safe. Not on an inspired night for a batsman with a Caribbean affinity for the big hit. We were all blind to this. The West Indians were born for white ball cricket – not only men, but the women too.

Ben Stokes tried only what he could, no yorkers from the enthusiastic all rounder though, only length balls, but they were not good enough for Brathwaite as they were sitting up to be hit. Six over square leg followed a six over long on and the game was wide open again. Six more and it was shut, with England well out of it. A careful push for a single then? No, not for someone with West Indian blood running in his veins. Six more and Stokes was reduced to tears. On his haunches, he would have been wishing the earth would open up and swallow him. Maybe, Team England would have to put him on a suicide watch for a while.
‘East or West, Indians are the best’ is an old slogan seen often on cricket fields. Small consolation that for Tam India, the hosts similarly scythed down at the finish of the semi final. But this was one night not to be grudged for the teams from the Caribbean.

The poor guys landed in India without their jerseys, so callous was the cricket board, at odds with the players for long enough to merit a mention in the Guinness book for the longest running soap opera in cricket. As closing speeches went, this one by Samuels was a classic. Almost at the point of breaking down, the good man recounted all the nasty things his cricket board had done while the boys went around looking to play winning cricket on the field. They had shown rare gumption against the Indians in the chase, never giving up and always staying in touch. There wasn’t to be so much of the grandstand finish that time, just a good old heave at part timer Virat Kohli.

Stokes was a different kettle of fish. He has bowled at the death in this T20 with great enthusiasm. Just what does a bowler do when someone like Brathwaite keeps clearing the biggish field at the Eden Gardens with clockwork regularity? Such raw power is something the format rewards often enough. But it takes rare imagination to launch an attack like that even if desperate situations like 19 in the last over call for desperate measures. It is doubtful if any other team could have achieved this under the enormous pressure of a trophy plus so much else hanging by a thread.

The grand revival of West Indian cricket might not come about even now. But strong West Indians teams in the white ball formats would lend the game an extra dimension. Their natural athleticism in the field, their fast bowling lengths at three-quarter or shorter and their wild imagination with the bat can make them formidable opponents if they can only focus on games like they did in the knockout format of the WorldT20. This was a victory akin to Kung Fu Panda’s chi or positive energy destroying Kai.
They deserved their comeback moments at their critics, who were left eating their words. Shane Warne was bound to cop a mouthful from Samuels, so much of bad history was there between them. Sammy had a go at Mark Nicholas for suggesting that the West Indians “short of brains but have IPL history in their ranks.”

Sometimes they may seem like that — for instance, when they missed running out Virat Kohli twice in one ball. There are moments, however, when physical action is bigger than thoughts and ideas, which is what Brathwaite proved. Have bat in hand and the ball is round and white and so go and fetch it. That is the spirit of Caribbean cricket playing out to the rhythm of a Calypso beat. Rally around the West Indies, indeed!