MS Dhoni blamed the dew after India fell to the West Indies in the semifinal of the ICC World T20 2016. Chasing 193 for victory, Lendl Simmons took advantage of sloppy Indian bowling to guide his team to a thrilling win.
The toss was always going to be crucial on this Wankhede made-for-chasing wicket, and after Darren Sammy called right, India were put on the backfoot. They did everything right in the first innings, with Virat Kohli playing an absolute blinder again to drive his team to 192/2 in 20 overs.
However, in the chase, the India bowlers struggled for grip as the dew came down, allowing Simmons, Johnson Charles and Andre Russel to take the West Indies to a massive seven-wicket win.
Dhoni refused to blame his bowlers for failing to defend the score, instead insisting it was the dew that made the difference.
"It was a bad toss to lose," Dhoni said at the presentation ceremony. "Also, because of the early start, the dew only came into play when we started bowling. The spinners did not have anything in offer, and we have a history of problems when the spinners bowl with a wet ball."
India, even with the dew, though, could have, and probably should have, pulled off a victory. Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah gave the Indians a really good start in the Powerplay overs, picking up the wickets of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, but once those two wickets fell, the bowlers took their eyes off the prize.
R Ashwin bowled a no-ball, which cost him the wicket of Simmons when he was on just 18, before Hardik Pandya did the same to hand the West Indies a victory on a plate.
"The only thing I am really disappointed with was the two no-balls," Dhoni admitted. "But then, there was not much on offer, and I can't really blame my bowlers for the loss, because of the difficult conditions."
Darren Sammy was happy as can be after the victory, and the West Indies skipper insisted he always felt his team would chase down the score, even when Gayle fell in the second over of the match.
"We knew it was going to be a massive step, against a very good India team," Sammy said. "I must commend the whole team, we knew halfway they were 10 runs short. Even when we lost Gayle, we believed we could win."
