Yes,WI Can

Crush Australia by 74 runs after Gayles 41-ball 75 to make first ICC final in six years

When an opposition takes on the West Indies,the first concern is to take Chris Gayle out of the equation. In the semi-final,Australia managed to do it for long periods of the first innings. Of the first six overs,with the fielding restrictions in place,Gayle played just 11 balls. Of the first 14 overs,the Jamaican faced 24. Of the batsmen that carried their bats in T20 internationals Gayle faced the least number of deliveries.

Though this sounds perfect from the Australian perspective,there are a few things that happen when Gayle is around,even if he is not on strike. Firstly,the West Indies are a different unit. Despite the early loss of Johnson Charles,Marlon Samuels 26,Dwayne Bravo 37 and Kieron Pollard 38 all rallied around Gayle. With Samuels,Gayle made 41 with Samuels,83 with Bravo and 65 with Pollard. Secondly,it only takes a few deliveries for Gayle to unleash himself on the opponents. Of the first 22 balls he made 29 runs. Of the next 19,he made 46. Gayle ended on 75 not out,one more than the margin of West Indies win. So it is easy to see how the West Indies moved into the drivers seat as the innings went on. The Gayle-Samuels partnership came at 9.11 an over,Gayle-Bravo at 9.76 and Gayle-Pollard at 15.6.

205/4: battle half won

The last of these stands took the West Indies beyond the 200-run mark,with the final over proving very productive. Gayle hit Xavier Dohertys first ball for a six and gave Pollard the strike who then smashed three straight maximums in a row. He was out of the last ball but by then Gayle and Co. had effectively knocked out last years finalists with just one half of the match over.

If the West Indies batting was impressive,with a big total to back them up,the bowling came to the party too. Australia needed to 206 runs to make it to the final,but the numbers were against them no team before Friday had made 200 in the tournament. The top-three of Shane Watson,David Warner and Michael Hussey have been Australias batting heroes and all of them had to fire if the side had to make a match of it. But half way into the fifth over of the chase all three had been sent back. Samuel Badree,opening the bowling with his turners,proved a great call from skipper Darren Sammy. Badree got rid of both the openers with deliveries that skid on to disturb the furniture and with Samuels having Hussey top edge a sweep short for a caught and bowled,the Australian challenge was over even before it started.

Soon,Ravi Rampaul joined the party. Cameron White was caught down the leg side of his first ball and David Husseys defensive shot was chipped straight back at the bowler of his third,to leave Australia at 42 for five in the seventh over. If not for the efforts of George Bailey the captain,Australia would have been defeated even more badly than they were. Bailey was especially severe on Andre Russell,taking him for 25 runs in one over,but when Pollard picked up Bailey and Pat Cummins off successive balls in the 14th over,the door was shut on Australia. West Indies won by 74 runs to make their first major final since the 2006 Champions Trophy.

Brief scores: West Indies 205/4 C Gayle not out 75,K Pollard 38; P Cummins 2/36 beat Australia 131 in 16.4 overs G Bailey 63; R Rampaul 3/16,Pollard 2/6