It’s the first ball of the seventh over of West Indies’ innings in the 2016 World T20 final. Marlon Samuels nicks behind and umpire Rod Tucker raises his finger. The scoreboard reads 37-4.
England assistant coach Paul Farbrace thinks the game is won. “It was huge. I have to say we thought that was it, we were home and hosed at that point. Having had them 15-3, you get Marlon out there, and it’s game over,” he said on a Sky Sports Watchalong of the epic final.
Then, as Samuels nears the rope, the officials ask him to hang around. There’s no doubt about the contact, or about the legality of the delivery from Liam Plunkett. It’s the catch itself that’s in question, with Samuels’ under-edge causing the ball to dip on its way through, and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler claiming the catch low to the ground. “I have to say when I saw it on the screen, there was a monitor next to me in the dugout, as soon as I saw it my heart sank, because you’re never going to get that,” said Farbrace. “And it was probably the right decision.”
Daren Sammy, West Indies captain that day, was riding the reverse emotional rollercoaster, with the moment one of many that went in favour of the Caribbean side that day
“I was like ‘Oh my goodness, we’re in trouble’,” Sammy said. “It was the opposite reaction. Looking back at it, knowing what happened, we just had to win. So many things went our way. I could understand how Buttler thought it carried, because it didn’t fall on his fingers, it bounced just before and went into the gloves.”
Joe Root, England’s star of the final with a half-century and two wickets in the first over of the chase, admits he was “furious” when the call was made.
“I was furious, not because I didn’t think it was the right decision but because it went against us. You look back on our batting innings and as soon as I felt we got in control of things it slipped away from us a little bit. You look at the start, Hales getting caught at fine leg having middled one, we got one down the leg-side, it just felt like everything in that first innings went against us and then this as well. More frustration than anything. It was a difficult one to call.”
Samuels emphatically made the most of his reprieve carrying on to finish 85 not out, watching Carlos Brathwaite’s legendary four sixes in four balls from the other end before picking up the Player of the Match award in a World T20 final for the second time. For England, they would get their own taste of the rub of the green going their way in dramatic fashion at Lord’s, three years later.
