The West Indies were left dejected by the heartbreaking loss to New Zealand. Photos / Getty
The stars at the centre of one of the greatest finishes in Cricket World Cup history take us behind the scenes to recount the dramatic final overs.
At 164-7 in their chase of New Zealand's 292 for victory, the West Indies look dead and buried - but Carlos Brathwaite had other ideas.
Working with his tail order, the powerful all-rounder added 47 with Kemar Roach for the eighth wicket, and 34 with Sheldon Cottrell for the ninth. But, when Cottrell was bowled, with the West Indies still needing 47 from 30 balls and just No 11 Oshane Thomas left to support Brathwaite, their chances looked slim once more.
However, with Brathwaite at the crease, both teams knew it wasn't over - and what unfolded was one of the greatest finishes in Cricket World Cup history.
Here's how the dramatic final scenes played out, from the perspective of the stars at the centre of the drama.
Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies all-rounder): Everyone believed that we could get over the line. When I lost Cottrell, Lockie [Ferguson] had one to go and [Trent] Boult had one to go, and the thinking was if we see them off, we could get 30 in three [overs]. As soon as Sheldon got out, the conversation between Oshane and myself was 'I'll do the scoring, I just need you to get bat on ball'.
Shimron Hetmyer (West Indies batsman): We knew with Carlos there, anything is possible. We know his capabilities with the bat; it was just about getting someone to bat with him at that point in time.
Jimmy Neesham (Black Caps all-rounder): We've seen those guys in the middle and lower order do that type of thing in the IPL and lots of different leagues around the world, so we knew they were dangerous and it was just a case of making sure they got one run less than we did.
Jason Holder (West Indies captain): We were all hopeful at the very end. When Carlos came to bat he had more than 20 overs to bat, a situation for him just to knuckle down get a partnership. And credit to Kemar. I thought they put on a really good push. It really brought us back into the game. And obviously Carlos and Sheldon and then Carlos and Oshane. These things really gave us a lot of hope.
Ferguson bowls his final over, conceding just seven runs, as the West Indies need 33 from 18 balls. But, Brathwaite is on strike, and facing Matt Henry, he goes berserk, hitting three consecutive sixes, as well as a top-edge for four, a pull for two, and a single to keep the strike. The Black Caps are suddenly on the back foot.
Trent Boult (Black Caps bowler): I think death bowling is always a challenge. It's quite hard when you've got someone hitting it as cleanly as he was there. It's nice to keep it very clear and practice what you preach in terms of what you've been training. Matt's been training yorkers very well. And he looked to go into the wicket there a little bit more. A lot of credit for Carlos for doing what he did and putting a lot of pressure on us.
Ross Taylor (Black Caps batsman): Your margin for error against Carlos and a lot of their batters is very small. I wouldn't say it's a small boundary, and he was clearing it by a significant margin. [Henry] will learn from that. That's the thing about World Cups – [you get] put under pressure.
Brathwaite has reduced the equation required to eight runs from 12 balls, and with Boult and Ferguson bowled out, captain Kane Williamson throws the ball to Neesham, and the Black Caps' senior players concoct a plan of attack.
Neesham: Fundamentally, a guy like Carlos Brathwaite, he's got so much power, he spends so much time hitting yorkers and full length balls out of the park, I just wanted to really stay away from that strength of his. I had a little bit of an advantage with a slightly longer side out to the legside, which [Henry] didn't have the over before, so I just wanted to try get him to hit out in that direction as much as possible. We talked it through at the top of the mark with Kane, and the yorker was a no-go, the only other two options are length and bouncer, and you don't want to bowl a whole lot of length to a guy who is on [99 off 76 balls]. I just wanted to try and get it up there as much as possible, luckily he's 6'5" so I knew there wasn't much danger of it going too high. I wanted to get it up high around his shoulder and his chin, and take a bit of pace off it with my wrist.
Boult: We [wanted to] take it to the other end and make them hit big shots into the bigger side. You just bounce ideas around like that. But I think the clearer you are, it seems to be a little bit easier. [Ferguson] had just come and just bowled one over there, and under a bit of a pressure cooker I thought he did very well. He took pace off the ball.
Taylor: If you execute [your plans] and it goes, then you can live with that. We knew that if we pitched it up and we missed, the game was over, we had to go shorter at him and make him hit to the bigger boundary and just give ourselves a chance. He top-edged a short ball that went for four the over before, and it wasn't exactly the quickest wicket to hurry him up, but Jimmy stuck to his guns.
Brathwaite: I just knew how much everyone in the dressing room wanted it, we always talk about belief, and trying to bring it home, that was the only thing on my mind.
Neesham starts the over with a clear strategy – bowling short and wide outside off stump. Brathwaite defends the first, and can't connect with the next two deliveries, while Neesham breathes a sigh of relief that the umpires don't deem his deliveries to be too short to exceed the allotted amount of bouncers allowed in an over.
Neesham: I think they had called one, and there was one which was sort of marginal that wasn't called, which I was very happy with, so as long as I had another one in the tank I always was going to go short again, because I sort of got a feeling he was waiting for anything in his half, to go over the sightscreen.
Brathwaite brings up his century, running two to deep mid-wicket, before the fifth ball of the over is a delicious leg-cutter, beating Brathwaite and producing another dot ball. In between, Williamson makes an adjustment, bringing cover up, and sending long-on back.
Neesham: Initially the plan was to try and get him to hole out to deep square, trying to go across the line, but after we'd bowled two or three of the same delivery, I had a feeling he'd get a read of what was going on, and potentially try and go more straight, so that was just a case of hedging our bets a little bit, and allowing ourselves to have more protection, and if he backed away and hit it over the off-side, then that's a pretty good shot in the circumstances. We were just going to take that poison if it came our way, obviously his strength is hitting long and straight, and we knew he'd want to go to that strength.
With six runs needed from seven balls, the Black Caps were torn – would Brathwaite aim to take a single and take the strike for the final over?
Brathwaite: I told Oshane about it – I said 'We've got to remain positive, we're one hit away'. Memories came back of 2016 when I played a game against Afghanistan and I put a full toss for a single when I could have hit it for six, and then had more to do in the last over. [He needed nine – and couldn't get it]. So my thinking was 'still watch the ball, still react' – and if it's not a ball that I can get a six off, then I can get a single. He was on high alert, but if it came in my area, I'd try to finish the game with that ball.
Taylor: We went into the last ball [of the over] knowing that even if he hit a four, we were still in the game, with them needing two to win and having six balls to bowl at Thomas.
Neesham: The plan was to get him to hit it straight up. I did think he might go for a single, but when you're hitting it that nicely and you know it's only one hit, you can I guess see both sides of it.
Boult: I thought Carlos was going to tap one and look to take five off the last over. But he looked for the big one.
Neesham comes in for the final ball of the over, and while it's short of a length again, this time it is into the body, cramping Brathwaite for room. He still swings powerfully, and the ball heads out towards long-on…
Neesham: I knew he didn't get it off the bat – it makes a pretty distinct sound when some of the West Indian guys get it out of the middle – but I was also cognisant of the fact that he doesn't have to get it, for it to go for six. I knew it was going to be there or thereabouts.
Brathwaite: I wasn't sure. I thought it had enough bat on it, but I was just willing it to go up and up and up.
Ross: We had to go short to him, one went up high, and in the end it was a very well executed ball by Jimmy.
Following the line of the ball in the Manchester night sky, Trent Boult lines it up, tiptoeing on the boundary rope at long-on – and remarkably, hauls it in, with inches to spare.
Boult: A pressure situation. Initially I thought it was going to be quite a way inside the rope, it almost travelled for six in the end, but nice to snaffle it. What a game.
Neesham: I don't think there's many people in the world you'd rather have under it than Trent Boult, who tends to take those pretty easily.
Taylor: A very good catch by Boulty – only a couple of centimetres and it could have been a different result.
Brathwaite: Unfortunately it didn't [carry], probably one of the better fielders in the world down there as well.
Brathwaite sinks to his knees in despair, with his head in his hands. The Black Caps, led by Taylor, come over to console him.
Taylor: We're all professional cricketers, and you get into those situations and probably deserve to win. He batted outstandingly well, took his team out of a very tough situation, and you've got to feel for him. From our team point of view, we were elated, but at the end of a day you're a human as well, and you've got to feel sorry for him, he did a fantastic job and we all just said 'congratulations on a great knock, and keep your head held high – you did yourself and your country very proud'.
Brathwaite: The New Zealanders are some of the best people in the world, and I've been fortunate to share a dressing room or play against and socialise with them in franchise tournaments. So I'm good friends with a few of the boys, and it didn't mean much at that point in time, because I had just seen Boult take a catch and us losing, but in hindsight, it's good sportsmanship on their behalf – and I appreciated the mutual respect the opposition had.
The result is plastered on the big screens at Old Trafford – a five-run win to New Zealand, but in reality, it was even closer than the score suggested. New Zealand remain unbeaten, while the West Indies' chances of a semifinal spot go up in smoke.
Neesham: A couple of metres further and it might have been a different story but I was very happy to get away with it and move on with another win.
Taylor: It wasn't meant to be [for Brathwaite] - very happy, but very lucky.
Brathwaite: One or two yards more and we would have been victorious. Devastated not to get over the line. It's heartbreaking.
The White Ferns have remarkably reached the final.