I just love the spirit with which the West Indies have played in this tournament. Watching Gayle, Pollard, Bravo, Russell and Sammy dance 'Gangam style' throughout has been both amusing and endearing. It's also been paired with great ability. Kimber describes this and the last over well:
Bailey's fatal blunder
The Australia captain was probably the only one who thought giving Xavier Doherty the last over against Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard wasn't a mistake
Jarrod Kimber
5 October 2012
George Bailey and Xavier Doherty have known each other since they were kids. Tonight Bailey tested that friendship by throwing Doherty into a vat of acid to see if he could swim. Doherty was demolished.
There was no one other than Bailey who thought bowling Doherty in that last over was anything other than a colossal mistake. West Indies had the two people in world cricket most likely to eat Doherty alive with the bat in their hands. They were well set, relaxed, already had a big total, and had cartoon drool coming out of their mouths as Doherty held the ball at the top of his mark.
Doherty's first two overs had gone for 23, it was probably his worst bowling performance of the tournament already, and now he had six balls at Pollard and Gayle when they only had one thing on their minds, how far they could hit him.
To his credit, Doherty looked reasonably calm as he walked up. There was no reason to be calm. The score was already 180, and Australia had only taken three wickets. He and Bailey placed the field carefully, although it seemed like a waste of time even then.
The first ball was a disaster. It couldn't have been worse. A finger-spinner bowling a knee-high full toss to Chris Gayle is like throwing a cabbage at Swamp Thing. Gayle just hit it. He's been hitting full tosses for six since he grew fingernails in the womb. Sometimes you hear the commentators say that low full tosses can be really hard to get away. They don't mean this kind; this kind is hit for six by players who don't hit sixes. Gayle smashed it.
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