Chasing 182 for 6 in their first match, against England, Chris Gayle lit up the Wankhede Stadium by making 100 off 48 balls, leaving little for his team-mates to do. West Indies won by six wickets and 11 balls to spare.
West Indies’ bowlers had a better game against Sri Lanka in Bangalore. Legspinner Samuel Badree took 3 for 12 and Dwayne Bravo 2 for 20 to limit the total to 122 for 9 at a normally high-scoring venue.
Gayle could not bat in the chase because of a hamstring injury but amid chants of “We want Gayle,” from thousands of Royal Challengers Bangalore fans, Andre Fletcher lashed 84 off 64 balls, securing a seven-wicket win in the 19th over
South Africa were tipped to be West Indies’ toughest opponents but on a slow Nagpur surface Chris Morris remained unbeaten on 16 off 17 balls after his top order had failed. South Africa were limited to 122 for 8
The chase was bumpy but this time Marlon Samuels delivered, anchoring with 43 off 44 balls as wickets fell at the other end. They needed nine off the final over and a towering six from Carlos Brathwaite ensured victory with two balls to spare. The win against South Africa made it three out of three © AFP
West Indies were favourites against Afghanistan and a clean sweep of Group 1 seemed likely when they were set a target of 124 in Nagpur
However, they collapsed in a low-intensity chase and were limited to 117 for 8, losing the dead rubber by six runs. After the game, the Afghanistan players wanted a photo with Gayle and he graciously obliged. West Indies finished top of their group, though, and qualified for the semi-final in Mumbai
After winning an important toss at the filled-to-capacity Wankhede stadium, West Indies could have run Virat Kohli out three times in two deliveries, but let him off. He went on to make 89 off 47 balls, leading India to 192 for 2 in the semi-final.
Gayle and Samuels failed, but Johnson Charles, Lendl Simmons and Andre Russell demonstrated fearsome power-hitting to raze the target with seven wickets and two balls to spare. When Russell hit the winning six to set up a final clash against England, his team-mates hurtled from the dugout to celebrate.(Espncricinfo.com)
