On this day: Marlon Samuels helps West Indies win World Twenty20 2012
October 7 marks an important event in the history of West Indies cricket as on this day, eight years back, the Caribbean nation lifted the T20 World Cup trophy for the first time. This victory was extremely special for the West Indies team as this was their first major trophy since the 2004 ICC Championship. While discussing the 2012 T20 World Cup final, only one name pops up in the mind of every cricket fan and that is of Caribbean all-rounder Marlon Samuels, the man who scripted victory for his team by snatching the game from the jaws of defeat.
Road to the final
On October 7, 2012, Sri Lanka and West Indies were up against each other at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo to fight for clinching their maiden T20 extravaganza title. Sri Lanka was coming in the match after defeating the Asian nation Pakistan by 16 runs and were being considered as the favourites from the beginning with an added home advantage, while West Indies entered the fixture after thrashing the opponents Australia in the semi-finals by 74 runs.
Winning the toss, the captain Daren Sammy elected to bat first in a hope of posting a big total on the board. However, the Caribbean team soon found themselves in a tough spot when their opening batsman Johnson Charles went back to the pavilion for a duck in the first over. Then walked in the all-rounder Marlon Samuels to build a partnership with Chris Gayle.
Slow beginning
However, the Windies were in for a massive blow as Gayle also couldn’t score runs and got out after playing a knock of 3 off 16. Then what started was a series of wickets as the West Indies batsmen came, scored 10-15 runs and went back to the pavilion. Despite watching the players arrive and depart, there was a man who was still standing holding his wicket in a hope to sail the ship of his team towards a respectable total.
Samuel takes WI to a safe total
Samuels looked quite calm and composed. He had a good measure of his game as he soon started thrashing the opposition bowlers. The veteran surprised everyone by destroying one of the most lethal bowlers in the shortest format of the game — Lasith Malinga. The Jamaica-born went on to play a breathtaking historic innings of 78 runs off 56 balls including 3 fours and 6 sixes at a strike rate of 139.29. Marlon’s knock propelled West Indies to a respectable 137 from 87/5 at one stage.
In reply to the total posted by West Indies, Sri Lankan team crumbled at the score of 101 runs within 19 overs. Samuels made a contribution with the ball too as in his 4 overs, he gave only 15 runs and took one wicket, maintaining an economy of 3.75. Apart from him, other Caribbean bowlers including Sunil Narine and captain Sammy took 3 and 2 wickets respectively while Samuel Badree and Ravi Rampaul got one each to their name.
The hero of the West Indies victory in the finals, Marlon Samuels was awarded as ‘Player of the Match’ for his innings with both bat and ball. This event proved to be a game-changer in the West Indies cricket history as they dominated the shortest format of the game by winning two consecutive ICC T20 World Cup titles, in 2012 and 2016.
