Cricket: Which T20 World Cup final is the best one according to you?

[banglabhai420]

As the throwback to T20 World Cup continues, which final is your choice and most favourite one of the ones played till date? Descriptions are below.

2007 - India VS Pakistan

India won the toss and chose to bat on what was considered to be a traditionally batsman-friendly pitch at the Bullring. Umar Gul took the wickets of both Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, leaving India with 157/5 in 20 overs; only Gautam Gambhir (75 from 54 balls) produced a notable innings. A 21-run over from Sreesanth swung the game towards Pakistan. However, Irfan Pathan (3/16), RP Singh (3/26) and Joginder Sharma (2/20) slowed the scoring dramatically. With Pakistan needing 54 from 24 balls, Misbah-ul-Haq hit 3 sixes off Harbhajan Singh in one over. Sreesanth was also dispatched for 2 sixes but took the wicket of Sohail Tanvir, as Pakistan went into the last over needing 13 runs to win, with only 1 wicket remaining. Joginder Sharma bowled a wide first ball, followed by a dot ball. Misbah followed by taking six off a full-toss; Pakistan needed just 6 runs to win from the last four balls. Misbah attempted to hit the next ball with a paddle-scoop over fine leg, but he only managed to sky the ball, and it was caught at short fine-leg by Sreesanth, leaving Pakistan all out for 152 runs. Irfan Pathan was awarded the Man of the Match for his spell, which included 3 wickets for 16 runs, including that of Man of the Series, Shahid Afridi.

2009 - Pakistan VS Sri Lanka

In the final at Lord's, the home of cricket in London, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. The first over was bowled by Mohammad Amir. After failing to score off the first four balls – all short – Dilshan went for his scoop and mistimed it, resulting in him being caught at short fine-leg. Soon after this, Jehan Mubarak top edged a delivery by Abdul Razzaq which went high in the air and was caught by Shahzaib Hasan, leaving Sri Lanka at 2 for 2. Sanath Jayasuriya was able to stabilise the innings for Sri Lanka hitting 17 runs off 10 balls, however, Jayasuriya soon fell as he dragged a good length ball back on to the stumps. Mahela Jayawardene followed after edging a shot into the hands of Misbah-ul-Haq, leaving Sri Lanka on 32/4. Sangakkara and Chamara Silva added further runs, before the latter was caught by Saeed Ajmal playing a pull shot off the bowling of Umar Gul. Shahid Afridi soon after, took the wicket of Isuru Udana with a googly which drifted into the right-hander, knocking the off-stump. This brought in Angelo Mathews, who along with Sangakkara took the score from 70/6 to 138/6, with 17 runs being scored off the last over bowled by Mohammad Amir. Sri Lanka finished on 138/6 from 20 overs.

Pakistan started off well with openers Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan adding 48 runs for the 1st wicket, before Kamran Akmal was stumped by Kumar Sangakkara by the first delivery of Sanath Jayasuriya. Pakistan reached the target in 18.4 overs, with Shahid Afridi, who hit the winning runs, earning Man of the Match while Tillakaratne Dilshan was declared Man of the Series for his 317 runs at an average of 63.40. Pakistan's win, often cheered on by crowds of fans from England's Pakistani communities, marked its first world title since Imran Khan's "cornered tigers" had won the 1992 World Cup.

2010 - England VS Australia

The final, played in Barbados on 16 May 2010, featured the game's oldest rivalry less than six months before the Ashes in Australia. England won by seven wickets with three overs to spare to seal its first International Cricket Council world championship after losses in three World Cup finals – 1979 against the West Indies at Lord's, 1987 against Australia and 1992 against Pakistan – and a loss in the 2004 Champions Trophy final to the West Indies on home soil. Australia batted first and scored 147 runs for the loss of six wickets, with David Hussey's top score of 59 proving crucial after England had reduced the Aussies to 8/3 after 2.1 overs and then removed captain Michael Clarke. England bettered Australia's total with 18 balls to spare, reaching 148 runs for the loss of three wickets, with Craig Kieswetter (63 runs) and Kevin Pietersen (47 runs) combining for a 111-run partnership for the second wicket before captain Paul Collingwood hit the winning run. Pietersen was subsequently named Man of the Tournament having scored 248 runs, while Kieswetter was named Man of the Match having scored his first T20 international half-century in the final.

2012 - Sri Lanka VS West Indies

Batting First, West Indies suffered an early collapse as both their openers Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles, were dismissed for three and 3 to leave the West Indies at 2–14 after 5.5 overs, resulting 14 runs after the end of batting powerplay that included first wicket maiden over bowled by Angelo Mathews. later then Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo stabilized the innings added 59 runs in 8.5 overs. Marlon Samules played a knock of 78 from 55 balls, involving 3 fours and 6 sixes including the longest six of the tournament at 108 meters. Captain Darren Sammy also led a late charge that produced a small, but valuable knock of 26 runs of just 15 balls. West Indies added 108 runs in the last 10 overs resulting to able to the respectable score of 137 with the loss of 6 wickets and thus able to set Sri Lanka a target of 138.

In reply Sri Lanka also did not get good start their opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan was bowled on duck by Ravi Rampaul. Then Kumar Sangakara started to move innings slowly. With the good tight bowling Sri Lankans were restricted to 39/1 after eight overs, With the fall of Wicketkeeper batsman Kumar Sangakara by Samuel Badree on the score of 48 in 10th over Started down Lankans in trouble. Just in span of 21 runs Sri Lankans were reduced to 69/7 in 14.3 overs including the two run outs. Nuwan Kulasekara mustered a brief fightback (26 runs from 16 balls) but holed out to leave the tail end exposed, and Sri Lanka was soon all out on 101 in 18.4 overs resulted in 36 runs short of the target. Captain Mahela Jayawardhane was the top scorer of 33 runs whereas Sunil Narine produced a brilliant figures of 9-3 in 3.4 overs. Samuels was judged as Man of the Match for being his brilliant allround figures contributed with bat of the top-scoring batsman on either side while also taking 1–15 in his entire quota of four overs of bowling.

The win marked the West Indies' first win in an ICC event since the 2004 Champions Trophy and their third ICC world title – though it was also their first since the 1979 World Cup, when a team including Viv Richards, Michael Holding and Clive Lloyd had won the tournament for the second time in a row.

2014 - India VS Sri Lanka

In 2014, India only managed to post a target of 131 in an attempt to win their second T20 World Cup trophy. Despite Virat Kohli's majestic 58-ball 77, India succumbed to a below-par total. In their chase, Kumar Sangakkara blazed an unbeaten fifty that kept India out of the hunt. Thisara Perera's arrival at the crease marked a further change in the tempo – it also furthered Sri Lanka's belief that they were on their way to win the T20 World Cup. Perara fired three sixes in his cameo of 23* off 14 balls to help Sri Lanka win the final with 13 balls to spare. 

2016 - England VS West Indies

The West Indies started well with Badree bowling Roy for a duck with just the second ball and fellow opener Alex Hales being caught off Andre Russell in the second over. Morgan was caught at slip by Gayle off Badree to leave England at 3/23 after 4.4 overs. Root helped England climb back into the game with 54 off 36, but he was caught playing an uncharacteristic paddle sweep off Carlos Brathwaite. Dwayne Bravo then took two wickets in three balls dropping England from 110/4 to 111/7. Batting deep, England managed to finish at 155/9 after their 20 overs.

Root was a surprising choice to bowl the second over of the West Indian innings but immediately dismissed both Gayle and fellow opener Johnson Charles. David Willey subsequently had Simmons out LBW for a golden duck leaving the West Indies 11/3 in the third over. A partnership of 75 between Bravo and Samuels kept the West Indies in the game and they were still in with a chance with 45 runs needed from the last four overs. Tight bowling left them nineteen runs behind going into the final over, but Brathwaite hit four consecutive sixes off the first four balls from Ben Stokes to seal the win.

Only three West Indian batsmen reached double figures: Samuels, Brathwaite and Bravo. Samuels finished with an unbeaten 85 off 66, the highest score in World Twenty20 final history. Brathwaite broke the record for the most runs by a single batsman in the final over of a successful chase (Brathwaite's 24 beating Michael Hussey's 22 for Australia off Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal in the 2010 semifinals in St. Lucia). Samuels earned Man of the Match for his 85 not out for his second World Twenty20 final Man of the Match and his second final half century.

Victory meant that the West Indies had won their fourth ICC world championship after the 1975 and 1979 World Cups and the 2012 World Twenty20. They also became the first to win two men's World Twenty20s and the first to win both the women's and men's tournaments on the same day.