COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – West Indies are the new World Twenty20 champions!!!
Building on a sensational 78 from Marlon Samuels with purposeful bowling and fielding, the Windies outlasted hosts Sri Lanka in a pulsating finish to the tournament on Sunday, claiming a 36-run victory in the Final.
Samuels played the innings of a lifetime: a typically stylish 78 that included three fours and six sixes, destroying the confidence of Sri Lanka strike bowler Lasith Malinga to lead West Indies to a respectable 137 for six from their stipulated 20 overs on a Premadasa Stadium pitch not perfectly tailored for enterprising stroke-play.
The bowling, which was identified as vulnerable, responded to the challenge and supported by agile fielding, outgunned the Sri Lankans, dismissing them for 101, silencing a vocal, capacity crowd.
Fittingly, birthday-boy Dwayne Bravo played a part in the final act, when he completed a catch on the deep mid-wicket boundary off compatriot Sunil Narine to dismiss Malinga for five with eight balls remaining, sparking Gangnam Style celebrations on the field, among the small band of supporters in the stands, and sparking celebrations across the Caribbean archipelago from Jamaica in the north to Guyana in the south.
The result ended West Indies’ eight-year wait for a global tournament title, following their capture of the ICC Champions Trophy, and justified their tag as the tournament favourites.
Title hopes had looked on shaky ground, when Johnson Charles was caught at mid-off from the bowling of Angelo Mathews in the first over, and talismanic, fellow opener Chris Gayle, the linchpin of the batting, was lbw to mercurial off-spinner Ajantha Mendis in the sixth over, leaving West Indies 14 for two.
But Samuels transformed the complexion of the game with the kind of explosive batting that has been the hallmark of his compatriot and close friend Gayle in this form of the game.
He was fortunate on 22, when Nuwan Kulasekara dropped him on the long-off boundary off Jeevan Mendis in the 11th over. The miss proved costly.
Samuels’ response was to increase the tempo, and it reached its crescendo in the 13th over, when he smashed the lethally accurate Malinga for three sixes.
The first he moved his front leg and flicked high over square leg, the second he drove inside-out over extra cover, and finished the over with a scoop over long-on that carried him to his 50 from 46 balls.
Bravo joined him for a stand of 59 for the third wicket before he was dubiously lbw to Ajantha Mendis for 19 in the 14th over. TV replays showed retiring Australian umpire Simon Taufel missed a palpable inside-edge, when they West Indies all-rounder played defensively forward.
Pressure mounted, when Kieron Pollard was caught at backward point off Ajantha Mendis for two from a miscued cut in the 16th over, and next delivery, Andre Russell was also dubiously lbw to Ajantha Mendis sweeping across a delivery of no real merit.
Samuels continued merrily and also launched Malinga for the biggest six of the tournament, a 108-metre monster over long-on in the 17th over to keep things on the move before he was caught at deep mid-wicket from a mistimed pull from 19-year-old Akila Dananjaya’s off-spin.
West Indies were 108 for six with 17 balls remaining, and their captain Darren Sammy made the most of them, striking three boundaries in 26 not out from 15 balls to add some meat to the total, as Ajantha Mendis finished with the flattering figures of 4-12 from his allotted four overs.
Rampaul then set the right tone for the West Indies’ defence, when he bowled Tillakaratne Dilshan for a first-ball duck with his first delivery in the second over, a perfectly-pitched delivery bowled from wide of the stumps that moved away and extracted the off-stump in spectacular fashion.
But West Indies knew that Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene and easy-going left-hander Kumar Sangakkara stood between them and title glory.
Sammy wrung the bowling changes and employed sensible field placments, and the pressure built on Sri Lanka’s two most decorated batsmen, as the scoring rate reached over 10 runs an over.
Badree made sure they finally cracked under the tension, when Sangakkara mistimed a pull at a short, skiddy delivery and was caught at deep mid-wicket for 22 in the 10th over.
Sammy tightened the screws, when he bowled Mathews with a slower delivery in the following over, but Jayawardene still held the key for the Sri Lankans.
Bravo had muffed a chance to remove him on five, when Jayawardene top-edged a sweep to backward square leg in the third over off Samuels, and Russell failed to cling onto a low, difficult chance, when the batsman was on 29 and skied a delivery from Badree to deep mid-on.
But it required arguably West Indies’ best bowler to oust Sri Lanka’s best batsman, when Jayawardene, conscious of a light drizzle in the air and with an eye on the Duckworth-Lewis calculations, tried to be too clever and was caught at backward point by Sammy for the top score of 33, essaying a reverse sweep at Narine.
West Indies held their nerve and panic creeped into the Sri Lankans, as Jayawardene’s dismissal sparked a collapse that saw four wickets fall for nine runs in the space of 15 deliveries.
The Caribbean side withstood the late charge that came from Kulasekara. He crashed a six and three fours from successive deliveries in Rampaul’s third over – the 16th of the innings –before Narine cleaned him up in the next over, caught at deep mid-wicket for 26.
Narine ended with 3-9 from 3.4 overs and Sammy took 2-6 from two overs – and the Gangnam Style dance party begun.
SCOREBOARD
WEST INDIES (maximum 20 overs)
J. Charles c Kulasekara b Mathews 0
C. Gayle lbw b A. Mendis 3
M. Samuels c J. Mendis b Dananjaya 78
D.J. Bravo lbw b A. Mendis 19
K. Pollard c Dananjaya b A. Mendis 2
A. Russell lbw b A. Mendis 0
*D. Sammy not out 26
+D. Ramdin not out 4
Extras (lb2, w3) 5
TOTAL (6 wkts, 20 overs) 137
S. Narine, R. Rampaul, S. Badree did not bat
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Charles, 0.5 overs); 2-14 (Gayle, 5.5); 3-73 (Bravo, 13.6); 4-87 (Pollard, 15.2); 5-87 (Russell, 15.3); 6-108 (Samuels, 17.1)
Bowling: Mathews 4-1-11-1 (w1); Kulasekara 3-0-22-0 (w1); Malinga 4-0-54-0; A. Mendis 4-0-12-4 (w1); Dananjaya 3-0-16-1; J. Mendis 2-0-20-0
SRI LANKA (target: 138 off 20 overs)
*M. Jayawardene c Sammy b Narine 33
T. Dilshan b Rampaul 0
+K. Sangakkara c Pollard b Badree 22
A. Mathews b Sammy 1
J. Mendis run out (Bravo/Narine) 3
T. Perera run out (+Ramdin) 3
L. Thirimanne c Charles b Sammy 4
N. Kulasekara c Badree b Narine 26
L. Malinga c D.J. Bravo b Narine
A. Mendis c D.J. Bravo b Samuels 1
A. Dananjaya not out 1
Extras (lb2, nb1) 3
TOTAL (all out, 18.4 overs) 101
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Dilshan, 1.1); 2-48 (Sangakkara, 9.3); 3-51 (Mathews, 10.4); 4-60 (Jayawardene, 12.1); 5-61 (J. Mendia, 12.5); 6-64 (Perera, 13.1); 7-69 (Thirimanne, 14.3); 8-96 (Kulasekara, 16.3); 9-100 (A. Mendis, 17.5)
Bowling: Badree 4-0-24-1; Rampaul 3-0-31-1 (nb1); Samuels 4-0-15-1; Gayle 2-0-14-0; Narine 3.4-0-9-3; Sammy 2-0-6-2
Result: West Indies won by 36 runs
Hi all Caribbean friends
Iam an Indian from Bangalore and very proud to see the West Indies team to win the T20 world cup. Although a fan of the Indian Team, my second choice was always West Indies.
Born in 1975, i never saw the old West Indies team playing live although i have heard my parents and all elderly Indians passionately describing the charisma of each and every player then.
In my mind i used to pray that if not India, West Indies should lift the cup. After many years my prayers have been answered.
May your team conquer bigger heights and i would love to see your team win test matches against all teams except India (selfish motives), but i want see regular India-West Indies test matches, a battle between equals and the best team win.
Congrats once again
i love u
sammy and samuel u got 78 runs goooooooooo
W.I u are the best
Congratulations to the W.I u made us proud
Congratulations to the W.I u made us proud
mad I am glad for the W.I team I wish them good luck in there next match
congrats to the west indies team…dat cricket was so interestin…big up too all west indies players
lol i love the dance good game W.I hope u have more good game like that 1 in the future
ALAH,i glad wi for them.
same WIsupporter who said that the team does not depend on any one player when some so-called suppoorters were bad talking Sammy. I said it then and I am saying it again, The West Indies team has been on the rise since Sammy became Captain. Thanks be to the Lord for this amazing game. It truly was a miracle. Congratulations to captain Sammy and his wonderful men – our cricket team through wins and loses.
What do they know about cricket, those who only know cricket? CONGRATULATIONS are in order here; Friday and Sunday were the BEST days of my entire life!! I screamed soooo much already and still feel like so doing.
I am one of those good times fan, because I grew up when WI “never lost” ,it was difficult for me to take the years of losing, and not living in the Caribbean anymore I just stopped watching. I must say I am excited about the team now, consider I see them comparing Gayle to Viv and I have never seen Gayle perform, I am now even considering going to Bangladesh … welcome us back into the fray and stop complaining of good time fans. We were spoiled by the era in which we grew up, at least this will soften the pain and we can get excited about the WIndies again.
Victory is definitely sweet. Twas a long time coming. Great match Windies. I see you guys had the Sri-Lankans with their hands on their heads lol; was fun to watch. Bless up.
Good reporting by DNO. Please keep it up. Never underestimate the power of sports as a unifying force. We can go places with sports. Thanks.
I was particular happy for Sammy and Mr.Hunt. I once heard a Jamaican sports commentator referring to the West Indies team as belonging to the motherland St. Lucia and the father and son i.e Mr. Hunt and sammy are the Managing directors. Excellent job guys,we hope and pray that is the beginning of great things to come.
loved their victory dance..had me cheesing..
I am an indian. VEry much happy to see WI winning the world championship as we in india feel that this the revival of cricket in a great cricketing nation. WI live for cricket, as we feel. Well done guys. Keep on winning. play like a team.
congrats to W.I you all did great
Go West Indies.. Holiday tomorrow!!!
I was just listening to the West Indies cricket anthem ‘Rally arouhd the West Indies”, and I got the shivers. That is so much of a poud moment for our people and our sports.
Go Windies!!
Aye Manchester united game was going on and i put that off eh to watch my cricket in the end my both teams won what a supper sunday. Happy for sammy and they started so poor but never doubted my bowlers big up to narine rampaul samuels gayle and the crew
Boiii i jump up till i fell, nursing an ankle sprain on allu der but i will limp in happiness
Congrates, Hats off . With you through thick and thin. All the way.
CELEBRATE!!
THANKS TO STANFORD ,FOR GIVING US 20/20 AND SAW THE VISION THIS ONE IS FOR YOU MR ALLEN…CONGRATS WINDIES
‘Giving us twenty/20?” Qui kaltay makakwi sah nuh.
he popularized it! he did not invent it for God’s sake!
Congratulations! Windies for showing the world that we belong,and for our former masters,we have taken off your chains and free ourselves. Now we want to be paid to come work for you. Even those jonny come lately,and those jump on the band wagon when things are good.you all are welcome to the party at the windsorpark tomorrow at 6pm.
i am smiling from ear to ear
am back i told u all we can do it.thats all i have to say.
Kudos to the writer of the above article as well.
He managed to convey the ups and downs, tension and excitement very well. Nice balanced article.
Congrats West Indies..let this be a springboard for
many great performances to come.
congrats to the west indies i doe even finish wash my clothes i was so excited love the way the team played today it was sensational!!!!
LOL no uniform for u 2morrow lol
Hey aren’t you dancing and singing on the street? How are you celebrating your great victory??
Hey Congrats from Bangladesh!! What a victory and honor you have achieved today! Today We support you and felling happy that a cricket crazy nation touch the peak.
Joy Bangla
JOY WESTINDIES!!
Well done you guys,you’ve made your manager and all of us West Indians who still had faith in our cricket extremely proud.Let’s hope this the start of a long awaited new era.GOOD LUCK!!!
dats my windies!!!! continue striving for the west till the best is gain.. we are so happy dat u guys won..great team work today n continue celebrating.. congratz to u marlon samuels for such a wonderful score today may god continue to guide y’all n grant y’all many more wishes god bless and congrats!!! wi all in!! west indies cricket…
Great work West Indies.
congrats to west indies
Congratulations!! What a mash up!! Love it!!
Come one come all lets celebrate. man to man woman to woman how ever, where ever grab a glass, grab a cup and give hi-fi to our boys. they played a game of their life time. sammy forever. so good to see all the guys gave their outmost. i am so very happy and so too are all cricket lovers.
Thank you Lord for granting our Windies team the victory and helping them win this T20 World Cup.
Congratulations Dear Leader Sammy and the rest of TEAM Windies, Otis Gibson and the rest of team management and this new dispensation WICB.
Ohhh what a great victory for the GENUINE cricket fans of West Indies cricket who have continued supporting the West Indies cricket team 100% through both the good and bad times.
NB: The good-time-only-supporters of West Indies cricket are kindly asked to STAY AWAY from celebrating the Windies winning the 2012 ICC T20 World Cup as you guys support for the West Indies team is not genuine.
Congrats Windies. To God be the glory. I wish I was in Colombo. I would surely find a way to run onto the field to congratulate our champions, the same way I used to do as a little fella at the Botanical Gardens when Dominica won.
I’m Doing the Dance… Congratulations to the West Indies Team… Great Game… I admire the Fight shown throughout the Tournament.
Great Finals and Windies won as they held their nerve in a Professional Manner…
Shorter version of the game requires even more skill/tatics and mental toughness.
Sadly Marpin 2K4 LTD, left alot to be desired in My view customers deserve some sort of explanation In the Internet Medium used for the Coverage of ICC T-20 Coverage…Whilst the other Television Provider brought excellent Coverage direct for ESPN Caribbean Source….
Where is Marpin’s Pro aspect, we need to be above board and do things as the civilise world does..
Marpin 24 LTD should take not that its cost of service to its customers is high in these hard economic times so Professional Manners and Ethics are Key for its survival and Longevity!
Marpin should seek to acquire the ESPN Caribbean feed as ESPN Caribbean has acquired the broadcast rights to a number of upcoming regional and international cricket tournaments for the next few years. Marpin should check in with ESPN on this issue and either add the ESPN Caribbean feed to the existing channel line up or replace one of their present ESPN channels with the ESPN Caribbean feed.
Please rectify this issue Marpin so that your loyal customers are not left in the dark when it comes to viewing cricket matches which ESPN Caribbean has the broadcast rights for.
you see west indies is the best team in the world sri lanka had no chance to beat west indies alyou do see the last catch by Bravo that prooves that the west indies team is the best team that you could support in the world thank God for Bravo
OPA! gangnam Style
We should never forget that the revival of West Indies Cricket on the field of play started right here in Dominica. Sammy knows that, Julien Hunte knows that, the Team Management knows that, Tony Cozier knows that, etc. etc.
CONGRATULATIONS to the Team and everyone who made a contribution. I enjoyed the 2012 T20 Cicket World Cup and in particlar the Finals.
From the beginning a lot of us gave up hope watching the #1 team batted, Phone calls here and there that we lose but I kept hope that we will make it through.
What a game from W.I to SL and back. It I stayed in d V.I a s watch this tan ti merle game. CONGRATS we won the game.
i enjoyed that fantastic game well done wendies win loose or draw i always support my west indies team grate effort to the entire team with determination u can suceed than u god 4 givin them that victory
We are the West Indians
We are playing the WI National Anthem and celebrating with champange! Partyyyyyyyyyyy for so!!!!!!!
wooooooooooooooooooosh! gasa mwe ka hooklay!!!! ohh my goddd!!! wat a match! wat a sunday! woooshh… fireee well done boys well done!
A spirited all wrong perofrmance from the boys gave them that much needed win to claim the ICC TWENTY 2O CHAMPIONSHIP TORNAMENT.They hoped beyond the scope of their own imagination and gave us that thrilling vitory at end. AT one point I was begining to hate unpire Taufel based on my own judgement of his decisions, but after every replay, this turned out to be good decisions, but I persevered to the end. Well done boys as we take on Bangladesh later this year or next year. Congratulation!!!! West Indies.
CONGRATULATIONS WINDIES
This is the moment! It is our moment. The West Indies has won the ICC 2012 20/20 world championship. Windies victory is great for world cricket.
The whole world was praying and supporting the West Indies. The God of cricket answered our prayers. Like Ian Bishop has declared “the Monkey is off our back”, we are the 2012 20/20 ICC World Cup Champs. I agree with Richie Richardson who said when the WI does well the Caribbean is happy. I am extremely happy.
Like many supporters, I was worried that our batting was failing us in the middle of the inning. With Galye gone, we seem to be unable to destroy the varied and skillful Sri Lanka attack. But we can be thankful that the side is not all about Gayle after all. This was an all round team performance with Samuels 78 (56 balls), Sammy 26 (last few 15 balls). The bowling too was great with that first wicket from Rampaul and the consistency of Narine … man what a great game, even as many wondered why did the Windies persist with Johnson Charles ahead of Dwayne Smith or Simmons. But that is behind us now
How happy we all are today since welcoming back Galye, Bravo and Pollard to the team and since the departure of Hillaire, the arrogant WIBC CEO.
We now have a team playing like a team with stars like Galye and even the Manager, Richie Richardson, who is usually so serious can smile and scream with joy.
With the WICB having to pay millions to players for the mistakes of the Board in its treatment of talented players, the resignation of the WIPA president and the departure of Hilliare, the political & management infightings have come to an end- at least for now. We hope that this will be replaced by the excitement and reward of winning more major international tournaments. Hilaire can enjoy the victory from the comfort of his new posting in England. He too can enjoy the resurgence of the pride we have in West Indies cricket.
The fun is back as a supporter of the Windies. This is what we the loyal supporters have long been awaiting. We are now the champs of the ICC 20/20 World Cup. We have been hungry for such a win. Now we can really start the painstaking climb back up the ladder of world cricket as we regain our rightful position as #1 in the international rankings in all forms of the game.
CONGRATULATIONS WINDIES. LOVE YOU.
Roseau valley
As usual 100% on point.
Its amazing how you guys played today. It’s like I saw a new team of fellas.
Congratulation guys! As I always say don’t give up keep the good faith.
Well done guys! Even when Gayle fails, you all must have the confidence that you all can win, as was proven today. Congrats to all.
Kudos! Kudos! Kudos! Mwah, Mwah, Mwah!
rallllllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyy rally round the west indies nanananana……
i could not eveneat my lunch grat job boys
love my westindies to the world rally round my captain sammy and west indies
CONGRATS TO THE WI TEAM…WE FINALLY HAVE SOMETHING TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT…
Great performance. The team peaked at the right time. They had momentoum going into this game…
We are the Champions!!!!!!!
Congrats to Sammy and his Team
was a joy watching that match.. Congrats to all.. win loose or draw i will be rallying around my west indies
Brilliant match!that was a determine spirit!Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!let us dance the Gangnam dance!
for the last 10-15 years WI have had a tough time, so we have to be jubilliant and estatic over that victory. Thank God for this great, great great outcome. Rallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, rally round the West Indies.
Captain Sammy you spoke wisely during your interview!!!!!! You used Jesus as your mentor. We love you
true dat
Wow!!!!!!! A proud moment for us West Indians!!!!!!!!! Congratulations to the guys!!!!!!! The West Indian community here in London town is over the moon…….all they have been talking about all week!!!!!!!! Keep the ball rolling fellas!!!!!!! Yes I!!!
you all are not sopoting sri lanka
Go Windies we celebrating in Dominica with some red cap rum… Well done!!! Maybe next time you all in Dominica you give us the same.
Hooray for my team…God bless them. I am so happy for Captain Sammy
Congrats WI! You needed the boost. It was in the making for a long time. Oh HO HO HO HO, we love the West Indies.
Yes Jah Big Up