#360view: Toss will be decisive in determining World T20 final

Barnaby Read 14:01 03/04/2016
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    After the best part of a month the World Twenty20 reaches its conclusion at Eden Gardens tonight with the West Indies and England vying for glory.

    For both it has been a journey of introspection which has brought about a unity and belief that sees each confident of adding a second World T20 trophy to their cabinets. And while their mutual brands of cricket are borne out of attacking intent and a trust in the individual and team skills of their squads, they will be searching for victory with two distinct methods.

    For England their two most recent wins have been delivered on the back of some stunning death bowling focused on wide Yorkers from their seamers and a faith in their deep batting order that combines craft and power hitting.

    England have made a knack of being unrelenting with the bat, pushing twos and pressurizing fielders in among finding and clearing the rope.

    The Caribbeans, however, are far happier relying on their wealth of big hitters to bludgeon them to victory with imposing force and range. It leaves two clear lines of attack which Eoin Morgan and Darren Sammy will be well aware of.

    Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan have been inspired bowling at the death for England and how diligent they are in executing their plans and how the West Indies cope with them could prove pivotal.

    While the England attack boasts the variety of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali their pace bowlers will once again be needed to halt a West Indies lineup that made light work of them in Mumbai 18 days ago.

    Chris Gayle is an obvious threat up top and Johnson Charles showed how effective he can be in the semi-final win over India. Removing these two early will be crucial for England while their rivals will be hoping to cash in during the initial overs and lay a platform for its bulging middle order to build upon.

    What will provide hope for England is that the West Indies bowlers have largely played second fiddle during this tournament and does not boast the same wealth of talent as their batting lineup.

    Samuel Badree and Sulieman Benn will be a constant threat but the likes of Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo and Carlos Brathwaite hardly strike fear into the opposition despite their ability to bowl with such variety in pace that is normally necessary in India.

    It makes for an intriguing prospect in Kolkata but for all the virtues of their deep pools of talent the toss could ultimately decide the outcome more than anything else.

    Of the four matches in Kolkata so far, the side chasing has won as many as those setting a target but the humidity, which has ramped up over the days leading to the final, will play a part for the side bowling last while both finalists have a clear preference for chasing, the West Indies in particular.

    They have batted second in each of their five matches to date, losing just the one against Afghanistan having already qualified for the semi-finals.

    Meanwhile, England’s two most significant victories – chasing 230 against South Africa and New Zealand – have come after bowling first and it is a method they look comfortable with.

    More importantly, they will be conscious of the West Indies’ preference in taking to the field first and the dangers of such a powerful batting lineup against who no total ever seems enough.

    In the end the West Indies may rue their inability to mix things up, with England offering an amount of variety and flexibility that should see them to victory.

    They have already shown that they can win in all kinds of manners while the West Indies have stuck to a highly successful – Plan A and if things do not go in their favour at the toss it is hard to see them emerging with the trophy.

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