World T20: India v/s West Indies - heartbreak at Wankhede

This is the mother of all disappointments — India are out of the WorldT20. And it must have been particularly painful for Virat Kohli, who has had a tremendous run with the bat, to having to bowl the last over with West Indies needing eight runs of it.

Third ball of the final over went for a four and the next ball, Andre Russell bludgeoned the full toss to six over deep mid-wicket to overhaul India's 192/2 and celebrate their entry into the final with a leap of joy as Wankhede imploded into a stunned silence.

Kohli stood watching. Perhaps India captain MS Dhoni banked on his form and luck. Earlier, brought into bowl the 14th over, he had picked up the wicket of opener Jason Charles off the first ball.

It is cruel irony that the pick of the batsmen in this tournament, Kohli, saw the winning runs scored in his over.

On the eve of the semifinal, almost everyone felt that West Indies' hopes of progressing rested on Chris Gayle. Gayle clicks, West Indies click. Gayle goes, West Indies go.

Gayle did go early, but the Carribeans too went sailing into the World T20 final after the seven-wicket win in the second semifinal at the Wankhede here on Thursday.

The West Indians couldn't have chosen a better day to prove that they aren't just a one-man army, with Lendl Simmons pouncing on the two lives given by the Indians to score a match-winning unbeaten 82 and match Kohli's sublime 89*.

West Indies lost their superstar in just the second over, Jasprit Bumrah castling Gayle's off stump in the first ball of his spell.

Marlon Samuels fell cheaply too, but opener Johnson Charles and Simmons negated the two early setbacks by putting on a brilliant 97-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Simmons was brilliant caught by Bumrah on 18, but Ravichandran Ashwin had overstepped. The life given, the duo was particularly severe on Ashwin and the erratic Hardik Pandya, pulling, slogging over midwicket and even top edging them for sixes.

Charles brought up his fifty and West Indies' 100 in the 12th over. Simmons, meanwhile, put his fast wrists to optimum use, twice hitting Ravindra Jadjea over the point region for fours.

Then, Dhoni made one of his famous impulsive moves. He summoned Kohli to try his luck with his gentle medium pacers. And Kohli struck off his first ball, getting Charles holed out at long off for 52.

But the hosts continued to be generous to Simmons, who was out again off a no ball, this time by Pandya. And the local Mumbai Indians boy was in the mood to make India feel doubly worse.

With the equation down to 42 off the last four, Andre Russell belted a six off Ashish Nehra to get than 10 runs off the over. But it was the 17th over where the Windies really made a statement. An otherwise economical Bumrah leaked 12 runs as Simmons collected a six and a four. Russell continued the trend in the next over, hitting a six and a four off Ravindra Jadeja's fifth and six balls to get within touching distance.

With only eight needed of the last over, Dhoni again went with his gut. He asked Kohli to bowl the final over, hoping that his current knack of turning whatever he touches into gold would work. However, it wasn't to be. After conceding just a single off his first two balls, Russell slogged him for a four and six to seal the deal.

Russell and Simmons ran towards the dancing Windies dugout like there was no stopping. Kohli stood unmoved in the middle of the pitch, head down.

It wasn't the result he would've expected at the mid-innings break. Put into bat by the West Indies, Rohit Sharma gave India a flying start but fell to Samuel Badree's googly for 43, with India 62/1 in the seventh over.

In came Virat Kohli to a defeaning roar from the crowd, which turned into a collective gasp moments later. It was a free hit, and Dwayne Bravo bowled a fullish slower ball. Kohli missed it completely and took off for a run, only for Rahane to send him back. Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin missed the wickets from behind the stumps, Bravo missed it from the front. Kohli was furious at Rahane, West Indies were furious at themselves. If giving Kohli one life in his current imperial form is costly, gifting him two is almost criminal.

And the world's No. 1 batsman isn't the one to miss out on it. Kohli's innings wasn't about extravagant shots, about standing and delivering. It was about running like you were being pulled from the other end, it was about putting your head down and toiling hard.

Kohli found an able ally in Ajinkya Rahane, who replaced the dropped Shikhar Dhawan, for that. The duo collected as many as nine twos in a little more than seven overs during their 66-run stand.

It's only in the last four overs that Kohli really brought out his full array of strokes. After placing two fours with precision in the 18th over, Kohli swatted Russell for a six over long on in the third ball of the 19th over. The next one was timed though covers for four followed by a slap past the bowler for the same result.