WT20: Packed house at Eden Gardens for England vs West Indies finale

As England faced West Indies in the final, over 50,000 raucous fans at Eden Gardens in Kolkata showed they can enjoy and celebrate a game of cricket even if the home side hasn't turned up

Kolkata: At the World T20s, the ICC uses double-headers from the semi-final stage to give the women a place in the sun. Scorched by the summer sun, most spectators gave the ladies final the skip, preferring to preserved their enthusiasm for the evening, when the West Indies met England in the men's final. By the time it started, they had filled the terraces to again uphold a tradition at the Eden Gardens. Over 50,000 raucous fans showed they can enjoy and celebrate a game of cricket even if the home side hasn't turned up.

Dancers perform ahead of the World T20 men's final between England and West Indies at Eden Gardens yesterday. Pic/AFP

WI still crowd favourites
With West Indies having knocked out Team India in the semi-finals, many may have expected the Eden crowd to support the Englishmen in the final. They were mistaken. The progress of the Caribbean caravan was a popular one yesterday, and it didn't take long to realise which side it was on. Darren Sammy's men knocked the wickets down accompanied by the roar of the Eden crowd.

Pads go out of fashion too
If Mahendra Singh Dhoni removed a glove to facilitate throwing during the nerve-wracking finale to the Super 10 match against Bangladesh, Merissa Aguilleira does one better. The wicketkeeper of the West Indies women's team has made it a habit of discarding both pads to help quick movement. Of course, Dhoni eventually didn't throw the ball that night, choosing to beat Mahamudullah in the race to the wicket as the Bangladeshis tried to steal a single of the final delivery. Maybe, next time he'll choose to take off his pads as well.

Dwayne Bravo (right) and Chris Gayle do the 'Champion' dance to celebrate an England wicket yesterday. Pic/PTI

'Champion' dance, ladies
Stefanie Taylor, skipper of the West Indian women's team, had revealed on Saturday that Dwayne Bravo had 'complained' that the ladies weren't doing enough of his 'Champion' dance. Bravo would've been happy to see the ladies break into his script soon after beating Australia in the final yesterday. And, for good measure, the West Indian women added a few steps of their own.

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