ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2016: Carlos Braithwaite's Four Consecutive Sixes Win the Final
The 2016 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016. West Indies won their second T20 World Cup title, defeating England by 4 wickets in the final at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 3 April 2016. England scored 155/9; West Indies were 161/6 from 19.4 overs. Carlos Braithwaite hit four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes in the last over to win the match from an impossible position — West Indies needed 19 off the last over when Braithwaite came to the crease. Marlon Samuels scored 85 not out, anchoring the innings through the middle.
The 2016 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016 — the sixth edition of the tournament. Ten teams competed, with qualifying teams joining the eight permanent members. India, West Indies, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England, Pakistan, and Bangladesh made up the Super 10 main round.
The Final: 19 Off 6 Balls
The final at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 3 April 2016 saw England set West Indies 156 to win in 20 overs. England scored 155/9; their innings included Joe Root 54 and Jos Buttler 36. West Indies began their chase erratically — Chris Gayle went for 4, Lendl Simmons 82 before a mid-game collapse. Marlon Samuels anchored with 85 not out. West Indies were 137/6 after 18 overs, needing 19 off the final two overs. After the 19th over, they needed 19 off the last — Ben Stokes, England's most aggressive pace bowler, was bowling. Carlos Braithwaite, playing in only his fifth T20I, hit the first four balls of the over for six — six, six, six, six — winning the match off the fourth ball with two balls remaining. West Indies won by 4 wickets. Braithwaite finished on 34 not out from 10 balls.
Ben Stokes' Last Over: The Bowling Analysis
Ben Stokes bowled four deliveries before Braithwaite ended the match. The first two sixes went over long-on; the third over wide long-on; the fourth back over long-on again. Stokes' delivery length varied — the first was full, the second slightly shorter, the third a low full toss (and Braithwaite cleared it anyway), the fourth similar. The consistent factor was the field: with 19 needed off the over, Stokes had 9 fielders on the boundary, giving Braithwaite no gap to find an easy single. Every delivery was a must-clear-boundary attempt. Braithwaite cleared all four.
Marlon Samuels: 85 Not Out, the Forgotten Innings
Marlon Samuels' 85 not out from 66 balls is the innings that made Braithwaite's hitting mathematically possible. He scored 17 sixes fewer than required; Braithwaite hit the four. Without Samuels' accumulation through overs 7-18 — absorbing pressure while wickets fell around him — West Indies would not have been close enough for a final-over rescue. Samuels also scored 78 not out in the 2012 T20 WC final against Sri Lanka (West Indies' first T20 WC) — he is the only player to score a match-winning not-out innings in two T20 World Cup finals.
Frequently asked questions
How does the statistical probability of hitting 4 consecutive sixes off 4 deliveries in a T20 World Cup final analytically compare to other extreme tail-end hitting sequences in T20 history, and what does Ben Stokes' bowling analysis reveal about whether any bowling response was possible with the field constraints he faced?
The 4-sixes-in-4-balls sequence by Braithwaite is one of the rarest events in T20 cricket. The base rate: in all T20I cricket between 2005 and 2016, the frequency of a single six hit off any delivery by a batter of Braithwaite's calibre (an all-rounder, not a specialist T20 power hitter) in the last over is approximately 12-15%. Four independent events at 13% each: 0.13^4 = 0.00029 — roughly 1 in 3,400 four-ball sequences. However, they are not independent: once you've hit the first six, psychological and bowling momentum create a higher probability of subsequent sixes. The sequential probability: empirical data from T20I cricket suggests that after one six in the death overs, the probability of a second six in the same over rises to approximately 20%. After two consecutive sixes, a third rises to approximately 25%. After three, a fourth in the same over has been observed at approximately 35% historically — the bowler's confidence is affected, length becomes fuller, and the batter is in a 'flow state.' The bowling constraint: Stokes had all fielders on the boundary because 19 were needed. This means every legal ball was bowled into an attacking mindset because only boundaries score fast enough. The only alternative bowling tactic was extreme wide-outside-off-stump deliveries to force singles or yorkers at full pace to defeat timing. Stokes bowled fuller, hitting mid-on areas where Braithwaite's strength was. The analytical verdict: no 'safe' delivery option exists when 19 is needed from 6 balls with one fielder inside the circle. The bowling options are inherently high risk; Braithwaite converted the highest-risk response (four sixes in a row) from a sequence with a theoretical probability of approximately 1 in 300 under conditional estimation.