On this day: Russell, Simmons broke India's heart in 2016 T20 WC
Mar 31, 2021
New Delhi [India], Mar 31 : It was on March 31, 2016, when Lendl Simmons and Andre Russell displayed supreme hitting, allowing the West Indies to defeat India in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.
Chasing 193 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, West Indies got off to a bad start as the side lost Chris Gayle (5) and Marlon Samuels (8) by the third over of the innings and were restricted to 19/2.
Johnson Charles then joined Simmons in the middle and the duo put on 97 runs for the third wicket, which saw both batters going past their 50-run mark.
India got the much-needed breakthrough in the 14th over as Virat Kohli sent Charles (52), back to the dressing room, with Windies still needing 77 runs for the win. It was then that Russell joined Simmons in the middle, and the duo stitched an unbeaten 80-run stand to take Windies over the line by seven wickets and with two balls to spare.
Simmons played a knock of 82 runs from 51 balls. However, it was Russell who changed the tide of the match as he went on to register an individual score of 43 runs from just 20 balls, with the help of three fours and four sixes.
Earlier, Kohli had played a knock of 89 runs to take India's total to 192/2 in the allotted 20 overs. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane were also among the runs as they scored 43 and 40 respectively and the duo added 62 runs for the first wicket.
West Indies, eventually went on to lift its second T20 World Cup title as they defeated England in the summit clash. In the finals, Windies needed 19 runs from the final over, however, Carlos Brathwaite smashed four sixes off the first four balls in the Ben Stokes' over to take Windies over the line.
