The start
In the semi-final, Jason Roy was bowled by a legspinner who skidded the ball on. In the final, Roy was bowled by a legspinner who skidded the ball on. But there was one key difference. In the semi-final, Roy had already thumped 78 off 44 balls when he fell to Ish Sodhi, and had done enough to set up England's win over New Zealand. In the final, his dismissal came off the second ball of the match, Samuel Badree having already had a big shout for lbw first ball when Roy missed another skidder. It was the start of a tough period of play for England.
The injury
It seemed that Badree could do no wrong. He bowled his four overs in succession and finished with 2 for 16, including 14 dot balls. He also took a catch in the second over of the innings to remove Alex Hales, who had flicked Andre Russell to short fine leg. And another, better catch came in the 19th over when Liam Plunkett sliced the ball to short third man off Dwayne Bravo. Badree had to hustle to his right and dive to make the catch, which stuck perfectly in his hands, but he came up clutching his right shoulder. Badree left the field immediately and it was a worrying sign, though it would have been more so for West Indies had he not already bowled out.
The surprise
West Indies have had great success with Badree as an opening bowler, but England throughout this tournament have opted for the more traditional approach of two fast bowlers taking the new ball. Until today. Eoin Morgan asked Joe Root to send down the second over of West Indies' innings after David Willey had started proceedings, and it quickly appeared to be a stroke of genius. First ball, Johnson Charles launched an ugly slog off Root that was caught by Ben Stokes running back from mid-on, and two balls later Root had Chris Gayle in similar fashion. It was all the more remarkable for the fact that before this, Root's tournament bowling figures were 1-0-13-0.
The 6, 6, 6, 6
Set 156 to beat England and win the championship, West Indies found themselves needing 19 off the last over, to be bowled by Ben Stokes. Marlon Samuels, who had steered the chase, was on 85. But he was at the wrong end. This was all down to Carlos Brathwaite, the allrounder who emerged on the Test tour of Australia just a few months ago. Six. Six. Six. Six. Job done with two balls to spare. The first one was a poor ball from Stokes, down leg, clubbed over deep backward square. Then a length ball slammed down the ground over long-on. Then over long-off. One run needed. Push a single? Why bother when you have the power, like Brathwaite, to crunch another six over the leg side. The West Indies players streamed onto the field in jubilation. They had not only done it. They had done it in style.