WATCH | Hope turns into Brathwaite as Curran channels inner Stokes for blockbuster finish
In sports, history tends to repeat itself à la Brian Lara breaking the record for the highest Test score against England at the same venue. England were on the receiving end yet again as Shai Hope somewhat recreated Carlos Brathwaite’s memorable finish, in the 2016 T20I World Cup final, in 2023.
Winning the toss, England decided that they would have a bat first and showed signs of recovery as the openers put up a 77 run stand. But they were back to their World Cup slump as they lost wickets at regular intervals with the scoreboard reading 239/7 with more than nine overs to go. Some quick fire knocks by Brydon Carse (31) and Sam Curran (38) ensured that they crossed the 300-run mark to eventually settle at 325 in their allotted overs.
West Indies were not to be outdone though as they piled on 104 runs for the first wicket with Alick Athanaze scoring a 65-ball 66. But with Keacy Carty, Shimron Hetmyer, and Sherfane Rutherford struggling to go past 35 runs, England had found a foothold in the game. Skipper Shai Hope though had other plans as he kept scoring at a quick rate to ensure the hosts were never really out of the running. The two time ODI World Cup winners needed just 24 off 18 when Romario Shepherd, who had scored an incredible 27 ball 49, was dismissed. The equation was reduced to 18 off 11 after Alzarri Joseph stole a single off Curran’s bowling to bring his skipper to the striker’s end.
The Englishman missed his mark on the next ball as a full toss was dispatched by Hope over cow corner for a maximum. Curran came back strong by getting a dot but the Windies skipper had other plans as another six over cow corner meant he had crossed the three-figures mark. England did not suffer too much after that as Hope ended the game with another hit to the same spot to finish things off in style. The finish was very reminiscent of the 2019 World T20 final when Brathwaite smashed Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes in the last over to win the Cup for his team.
What an end!!