Lendl Simmons, Johnson Charles shatter India as West Indies make it to ICC T20 World Cup 2016 final

Lendl Simmons played a charmed innings to score 83 not out off 51 balls © AFP

Lendl Simmons and Johnson Charles powered West Indies into the final of ICC T20 World Cup 2016, defeating India by 7 wickets with 2 balls remaining. India had only themselves to blame for the defeat; Simmons could have been out at least three times but for no-balls and catches being taken over the boundary. Before the match began experts had predicted that Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels would be the key batsmen for West Indies, but both men were dismissed early. Gayle was cleaned up off Jasprit Bumrah’s first ball with a swinging yorker, getting dismissed for 5 from 6 balls. In the next over, an Ashish Nehra slower ball made Samuels play early and offer a simple catch to Ajinkya Rahane for 8 from 7 balls. Anyone who thought it would be an easy win for India after that was sorely mistaken, as Charles and Simmons showed after the two big guns were dismissed. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs West Indies, ICC World T20 2016, 2nd Semi-Final match at Mumbai

Charles, who threatened to break free for much of the tournament, finally found a pitch that fully suited his game. The ball was skidding on to the bat, and Charles was able to target the mid-wicket area with great success. The dew was making it hard to grip the ball, and as a direct result of that the effectiveness of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were blunted. Both spinners were expensive in their first couple of overs, both men going for over 10 runs per over. FULL CRICKET UPDATES: India vs West Indies, ICC World T20 2016, 2nd Semi-Final match at Mumbai
Meanwhile, Ashwin did himself no favours at all when he had Simmons brilliantly caught at short third man by Bumrah only for the third-umpire to call it a no-ball. Replays showed that Ashwin had over-stepped by a long margin. Simmons survived, and his partnership with Charles made India’s total look smaller and smaller. The duo put on 97 runs before — of all people — Kohli dismissed Charles for 52 off 36 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. READ: India vs West Indies, ICC T20 World Cup 2016, 2nd Semi-Final at Mumbai: Highlights from India’s innings
Having been caught off a no-ball when on 18, Simmons went on to complete his half-century in 35 balls. His luck seemed to have run out when he hit a full toss from Hardik Pandya to Ashwin at cover. India’s celebrations soon turned to sorrow, as replays showed that Pandya too had bowled a massive no-ball. Once again Simmons got a life, and he made Pandya pay by hitting a huge six off the free hit. New man Andre Russell played his role well, getting a couple of big hits while also churning over the strike. READ: Virat Kohli’s top 5 ODI chases
The equation came down to 32 runs needed off 18 balls. Bumrah, bowling his final over, started with 3 dot balls to Simmons. The batsman then played one to deep midwicket where the catch was taken by Ravindra Jadeja, who saw he was going over the ropes and threw the ball back to Kohli. Unfortunately, Jadeja’s foot had touched the boundary rope so it was six instead of out. Simmons managed to get 12 runs off the over, which meant that West Indies needed 20 off the last two overs. READ: Virat Kohli’s top 5 T20I chases
All eyes were now on Dhoni. With Nehra and Bumrah having bowled out and Jadeja and Ashwin proving expensive, the question was who would bowl the final two crucial overs. Dhoni threw the ball to Jadeja, who started off with a dot ball. The next ball was a single to long on. The third was heaved to deep midwicket for another single. The fourth ball was hit back to Jadeja, who ensured there were no runs scored off it. Russell then made up for the quiet over with a six straight back down the ground. The last ball was slapped over cover for another boundary, which meant West Indies now needed 8 off the final over.
Dhoni threw another curve ball by giving the final over to his golden man, Kohli. Simmons got the first ball away for a single. The next ball was a dot to Russell, who missed a big slog. Russell tried to slog the next ball and got an inside edge, but it was in the gap for a boundary. With 3 needed off 3 balls, Russell smacked a massive six to take West Indies into the final.
Earlier, Virat Kohli hammered a belligerent 89 not out off 47 balls to lead India to a commanding 192 for 2 against West Indies in the second semi-final of ICC T20 World Cup 2016 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. India, who have been unchanged throughout the tournament, made two changes to their line-up in the all-important semi-final. One was forced, with the injured Yuvraj Singh being replaced by Manish Pandey. The other change was a deliberate one, with the misfiring Shikhar Dhawan replaced by Ajinkya Rahane as opener. The latter change was an instant success. India’s openers put on a fifty-plus stand for the first time in the T20 World Cup 2016. Rohit got the ball rolling early, laying into the lacklustre bowling to hit 3 fours and 3 sixes in a 31-ball 43. India were 62 when Rohit was dismissed in the eighth over.
That brought in India’s talismanic No. 3 Virat Kohli. Unlike his last few innings, Kohli did not look in complete control early on. He was nearly run out three times in 2 balls early in his innings, but Denesh Ramdin and Dwayne Bravo missed the chances though, and Kohli soon calmed down. After that it Kohli settled into his innings and started bringing out the trademark drives and flicks. 
At the other end, Rahane was batting serenely. His role seemed to be to churn the strike around to let the more fluent batsmen get the runs, and he performed the role with aplomb. Rahane did not bat quickly, but his innings was vital in setting up India’s total. He scored 40 off 35 balls with 2 fours, adding 62 and 66 with Rohit and Kohli respectively. His dismissal, caught in the deep by Dwayne Bravo off Andre Russell, brought in MS Dhoni. 
The Indian skipper promoted himself up to No. 4 ahead of both Suresh Raina and Manish Pandey. Dhoni showed his intent off the second ball he faced, moving outside off stump to paddle the ball to the fine leg boundary. But with Kohli batting wonderfully at the other end, Dhoni did his best to give him the strike. The duo ran like demons, converting singles to doubles and — in one insane instance — a 2 into 3. Kohli started finding the fence with regularity, hitting Carlos Brathwaite and Dwayne Bravo for two boundaries each in the 17th and 18th overs. 
Russell, bowling the penultimate over of the innings, was clubbed for a six over long-on, a four over extra cover, and another four to long on. Dwayne Bravo bowled an excellent final over, but even then he conceded 12 as Kohli and Dhoni ran wonderfully. Kohli managed to find a boundary as well, and India ended at a commanding 192 for 2.
Brief scores:
India 192 for 2 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 43, Ajinkya Rahane 40, Virat Kohli 89*; Samuel Badree 1 for 26) lost to West Indies 196 for 3 in 19.4 overs (Johnson Charles 52, Lendl Simmons 83*, Andre Russell 43*; Ashish Nehra 1 for 25) by 7 wickets.