World Twenty20: West Indies in dramatic win over India to book place in final against England

Simmons the hero for the West Indies

Hardik Pandya reacts during India's semi-final defeat to West Indies (GETTY IMAGES)

At 9:02 on a sultry night in Mumbai, Chris Gayle had his off-stump uprooted by a yorker from Jasprit Bumrah. Fireworks went off in celebration at the fireworks Gayle had failed to produce. The wicket triggered pandemonium on the field and bedlam in the stands in the knowledge of what Gayle’s second-over dismissal surely meant: that India would be able to defend their total of 192 for 2 and advance to Sunday’s final against England at Eden Gardens.

It all seemed logical enough, but that was reckoning without Lendl Simmons. Here he produced the innings of his life, taking out his frustration of a 376-day international exile on an Indian attack that withered in sight of a home World T20 final, further hindered by the evening dew. For all the violence of this display, evident in the heaves over long-on and square leg, there was beauty in this brutality too, particularly in a swivel pull of such authority that it evoked the most intimidating Caribbean batsmanship of yore.

Together with Johnson Charles, whose daring early assault rattled India, and Andre Russell, who approached the task of finishing the game with nonchalance and thunderous power, Simmons ensured that the West Indies made their point. “It’s not a one man show in this team,” he said. “Chris Gayle didn’t get many tonight but we still managed to get over the line.”

Not that Simmons was without fortune: he had dollops of it, in fact. Three times he trudged off, seemingly condemned to his fate. But each time he was reprieved.

On 18 an outside edge off Ravi Ashwin’s offspin flew to third man, whereupon Bumrah took a stunning catch but it turned out to be a no-ball. When Simmons had 50, he smeared a full toss to cover and the same thing happened again. He promptly thumped the ensuing free hit over midwicket: 131 for 4 off 15 overs had become 138 for 3, a position from which the West Indies were primed for victory. But there was time for Simmons to get lucky once more: with 32 needed from 15 balls, he heaved a slower ball to midwicket, where Ravi Jadeja and Virat Kohli combined to take a spectacular catch. Only Jadeja had stepped on the boundary rope as he palmed the ball back, so instead Simmons had his fifth and final six. Now, it was too late for India to save their tournament.

Simmons’ luck had begun four days earlier. He had been at home, unselected for this tournament, when Andre Fletcher injured his hamstring against Afghanistan and was ruled out of the tournament. This misfortune handed Simmons, a 31-year-old who had not been selected for a year, a surprise call-up. A couple of arduous flights later and he had landed in Mumbai, home of his IPL team, with only one full day to prepare for a World Twenty20 semi-final.

How he seized his moment. It all made another magnificent innings from Kohli seem almost incidental: the master of the chase proved himself equally adept setting up a game, and only faced six dot balls in 47 balls. Simmons alone faced 14 more, but the West Indies have the power to render such statistics irrelevant: they scored 146 runs in boundaries to India’s 92.

Despite such a wonderful knock, Kohli’s night ended with him trying to defend eight from the final over of the match, with MS Dhoni berating the dew that nullified his spinners. It was an incongruous sight: the BCCI, the richest board in cricket history, relying on Kohli’s slow medium – to call his trundling genuine medium-pace would be too much – to save their tournament.

When Russell’s six brought his team-mates bursting onto the outfield in jubilation it prompted the thought that perhaps one day we will look back at March 31 2016, the day when the West Indies men and women alike made the final of the World T20, as a crucial staging post in the salvation of Caribbean cricket.