It was a hard day for the Men in blue after they ‘no-balled’ themselves to defeat. Thrice India had Lendl Simmons walking back to the pavilion. And all three times, India saw the player turn around and walk back with a smile on his face. On the first two occasions, India found out that their bowlers, R Ashwin and Hardik Pandya, had overstepped the crease by the narrowest of margins. On the third, Ravindra Jadeja while completing a difficult catch, his right foot had just touched the ropes when he was relaying the ball to Virat Kohli.

It seemed that luck on Thursday was all helping the other side. Simmons innings of an unbeaten 82 off 51that was full of lifelines, helped West Indies go past India’s total of 192/2 and take them into the final. Alongside Simmons, Johnson Charles smashed 52 off 36, while Andre Russell applied the finishing touches with his brutal 43* off 20.

Earlier, it was the first instance India managed to score more than 50 runs in their powerplay overs in this World T20. It was also the first time the openers managed to score more than fifty. However, the opening stand was finally broken when Samuel Badree, bowling his third over, sneaked a faster one through Rohit’s defence.

Kohli and Rahane brought up their fifty-run stand off 36 balls – It was a stand that was highlighted by some stunning running between the wickets. India had reached 127 for the loss of Rohit Sharma after 15 overs, and needed to hit the accelerator to reach the par total of 180-odd. Rahane sensed the need to go big, and perished in the attempt. His pull off Russell found Bravo in the deep and he had to depart for a 35-ball 40.

Kohli, soon, reached his fifty off 33 balls, his third fifty of the tournament. Alongside MS Dhoni, Kohli shared a brutal fifty-run stand off just 21 balls as India raced towards a strong total. That stand bore India 64 off 27 with Kohli not out on 89. India had smacked 59 off the last four overs to give them a total they would be confident of defending.

Simmons was one of the two replacements made by the West Indies team for the semifinal match against India at the Wankhede stadium on Thursday. Chris Gayle was other. Both the batsmen stepped out to bat in the second half of the game, after India, led by a belligerent Virat Kohli innings (89 off 47 balls), had amassed 192/2. Gayle was back in the hut seven balls later.

R Ashwin was brought on immediately after the powerplay, with West Indies in a precarious position. They had Johnson Charles carting the ball around, but they needed someone to stay with him and play the anchor. Soon, it looked like Ashwin had the third West Indies batsman in the hut. Simmons cut a wide ball uppishly and Jasprit Bumrah, diving forward, took a fine catch. Replays, however, showed Ashwin had overstepped.

Charles continued to plunder India’s bowling and he brought up his fifty off just 30 balls. As if his contribution with the bat wasn’t enough, India had to turn to Kohli to play saviour with the ball. And as he did with the bat, so he did with the ball. Kohli struck first ball to have Charles caught at long off and give his side a vital breakthrough. While Charles was out for a match-changing fifty, the crowd had found their voice again thanks to Kohli.

Simmons brought up his fifty soon after, while the incoming Andre Russell took a little more than no time to settle in. Four balls into his innings, Russell had slammed Pandya for a four past mid-off and a mighty six into the top tier over long on.

Then came Simmons’s second slice of luck. For the second time in the game, India had Simmons’s wicket cruelly snatched away from them as replays suggested that Pandya, this time, had overstepped when he had the West Indian caught at cover while on 50. The free-hit was duly dispatched over the fence to worsen India’s position and confidence.

Simmons, batting on 71, slammed Bumrah high towards deep mid-wicket. Jadeja, one of the India’s safest fielders, found himself under the ball and inches away from the fence. He took the catch, and tossed it quickly to Kohli. It seemed like India had finally found a way to dismiss the right-hander, but replays showed otherwise. Jadeja’s foot had grazed the boundary ropes, and Simmons would walk back to the middle yet again.

Perhaps, that indicated, more than anything, that it was West Indies’ night, Simmons’s night. And when Russell slammed a four and six off the final over bowled by Kohli, the claims were just underlined and put to rest.