West Indies Win The WORLD CUP ! CELEBRATIONS

Triumph For The Determined West Indies

"This is for the Caribbean people" says Sammy.

They had clapped in the Premadasa media room after Darren Sammy finished his pre-final press conference on Saturday. They clapped in the Premadasa press box on Sunday after West Indies took the last Sri Lankan wicket to win the World Twenty20 2012. They clapped in the Premadasa media room after Sammy finished his post-final press conference. So rare have such occasions been for West Indies cricket after their decline that Sammy called this victory "the best moment for me".

The West Indies captain sauntered into the media room draped in the maroon West Indies cricket flag. He kept the World Twenty20 trophy proudly in front of him on the table. "My trophy is so big I can't see you," he joked with the first questioner.

He spoke about treasuring the achievement for the rest of his life. He was asked whether his performance with both bat and ball in the final was an answer to the critics who had questioned his place in the side all along. He said when even Christ was crucified without fault, he himself was nothing. It was a much-criticised, large-hearted man speaking from his heart, and Sammy didn't hold back tonight.

"We will definitely cherish this moment. I will for sure," Sammy said. "We're going to relive it every day of our lives. This is the best moment for me in any cricket. This here (the trophy) is for the Caribbean people. West Indies fans all over the world have been craving success. I know they're partying from Jamaica down to Guyana. And we know how to party. I think they'll need a lot of bartenders."

Sammy said while the critics had a job to do, he had always believed in playing for the Caribbean people. "The commentators get paid to speak. The media get paid to write stories. I get paid to play cricket," Sammy said. "Critics will always be there. Someone might find something wrong I did today even though we won. That does not worry me. The most important thing is that the team did well.

"And I always say I live my life one way. Christ came to this earth, did nothing wrong and yet was crucified. I'm nowhere close to that man.

"Anybody could have an opinion about me. I like it. My shoulders are broad enough. It's been like that from the time I started cricket. Once I wear this [West Indies] crest (pointing to his shirt), I wear it on my heart. That's what matters. If I turn up and don't have a good day, I suck, I'll come the next day and try and put in a better performance. I don't play for glory. I play for the Caribbean people."

Sammy was asked what had won the game for West Indies, after they had been 32 for 2 at the halfway stage of their innings. He spoke about belief, and he spoke about God. "We have a strong belief in God. He works in mysterious ways. He performs wonders," Sammy said. "Like I kept saying in every press conference, there's a belief we had in the team. Yes, we expected them (Sri Lanka) to give us a good fight and they did.

"Throughout the last year or so, we've been showing that never-say-die attitude, but we've not been winning games. In this tournament, we've won games. Every man believed that whoever was out there could do the job. Today, it was Marlon Samuels and (Dwayne) Bravo steadying the ship. In the end, every run counts. The bowling discipline was just brilliant, and the fielding. I said we needed our A-plus game, this here is proof of it."

After Marlon Samuels' 78 had carried them to 137, Sammy said West Indies believed they had a chance. "The coach was saying that if we get the score we got in Pallekele (129 for 5 against Sri Lanka) on this wicket, we'll win the match," Sammy said. "The momentum we had from our batting carried through to our bowling. It was Dwayne Bravo's birthday, so in the huddle, I gave him the chance to say the last words before we went on the field. He said, 'let's go out there and give it our all. If we do that and play how we can play, these runs are going to be a fighting total'. Ravi (Rampaul) started it off with his first ball, and we never looked back from there.

"We have some of the most experienced Twenty20 players. Once we play the way we can, we'll always be a force to reckon with. We didn't brag about it but we believed we could go out there and take it one game at a time. I said hurdle by hurdle, and today was the final one. The coach said we're climbing to the top of a mountain, and that's where the prize is. We've got to go and take it. Today, we did that. We had different persons coming up with performances in different matches. The team has gelled well in this tournament. Signs of progress have been there, but this is the icing on the cake."

There have been questions raised about the unity of the squad in the past, and the board and the players have had numerous disputes, but Sammy hoped this victory could be the start of something new for West Indies cricket. "This is the moment here," he said. "Issues done and buried. Twenty20 World Cup, 2012, Sri Lanka - West Indies champion."

And Sammy held the trophy up. And there was another round of applause.

Sri Lanka Vs West Indies WT20 FINAL MATCH !!

Samuels, Sammy Give WI First World 

Title After 33 Years

West Indies' first World Twenty20 win was more digging in, refusing to give up, running and fielding like their life depended on this match, stunning the home crowd, and pulling off one of the most amazing turnarounds in Twenty20 history, especially given the stage. The due share of flair came from one of the most eye-pleasing batsmen going around. There's no need to add "one of the" here, because Marlon Samuels played simply the best Twenty20 international innings ever seen when West Indies were down and the count had reached about eight. A feedbacker to ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball commentary asked if Samuels' 78 was the 281 of Twenty20 cricket.

Samuels was not just shouting for help from the burning deck. He danced on that burning deck. He danced so well the burning deck became attractive. And Sri Lanka were singed. So singed that arguably the best Twenty20 bowler in the world went for 0 for 54. So singed that Ajantha Mendis' figures of 4 for 12 in the final meant nothing to the result. West Indies had been 14 for 2 after Powerplays and 32 for 2 after 10 overs, the fourth-worst and fifth-worst scores at these points in the history of Twenty20 internationals. They even took 17 balls to score their first run off the bat. Yet so breathtaking was Samuels' assault, never mind the wickets falling around him, that Sri Lanka were too stunned to respond.

It is also fair, in a way, that captain Darren Sammy contributed big to the win. That the man who has led the team through times when others had deserted it, despite obvious question marks over his skills, played a crucial role on the big night of a tournament that had threatened to make him almost superfluous ... When Samuels got out, West Indies were still 108 in the 18th over. They needed a strong finish to keep fighting. And fight Sammy did. He swung and ran like hell, turning three ones into twos in the last over, hitting two fours around those scrambles.

It was perhaps a little easy to carry on after Samuels had struck. Samuels struck when Malinga had come back to try to deliver the knockout blow. Samuels counterattacked sensationally. All Malinga had to do was miss his yorker by a few inches in the 13th over, and Samuels stunned him with three of the finest sixes: a flick over deep midwicket, a loft over long-on, and a beautiful drive over extra cover. Still only 69 for 2 after 13, but it helped West Indies show fight.

Jayawardene wanted to nip that fight in the bud. He brought back Ajantha, who responded with three wickets in his last two overs: Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard out of the way. Surely Jayawardene had snubbed it all out?

Not quite. In between those two overs, Samuels continued his assault, taking apart Jeevan Mendis. Then was the turn of the man widely acknowledged as the best bowler in Twenty20 cricket. After hitting Malinga for a four and a six, Samuels got a length ball, which he sent onto the roof of the stadium - the biggest six of the tournament at 108 metres.

Angelo Mathews said during the break that West Indies were still 15-20 short. Perhaps they were, but the momentum of that onslaught - 105 in last 10 - was huge. If Sri Lanka were not already in their shells, a superb first ball from Ravi Rampaul sent Tillakaratne Dilshan's off stump cartwheeling. His finger went to his lips. The crowd, though, had already been stunned into silence.

Two of Sri Lanka's greatest cricketers were now in the middle, but like the West Indies openers they were under pressure too. And would they have thought of three previous World Cup finals that they had lost? Jayawardene was too early into a sweep - a shot he plays better than anybody else in today's cricket - and nearly gave Samuels a wicket in his first over. Kumar Sangakkara kept hitting even poor deliveries straight to fielders. West Indies kept squeezing harder and harder.

Such is the pace of Twenty20 that suddenly Sri Lanka were 39 after eight overs, and while they had wickets in hand, they don't matter as much in T20 as they do in more traditional formats. Most importantly, Sunil Narine had shown in one over that he was going to turn the ball a long way. Sri Lanka were running out of time, and needed to target somebody.

Sangakkara targeted Samuel Badree, and even though he hit a four, he also deposited a long hop with deep midwicket. Sammy now put in another squeeze. Mathews was finding that he had spoken too early. Three dots later, he moved across and the stumps were laid prone. Sammy hit them with a slower ball. Now it began to drizzle. Sri Lanka were well behind D/L now, and Jayawardene had to take risks. Never really flowing in his effort, Jayawardene mistimed a reverse shot, and holed out to point.

After that Nuwan Kulasekara was just a minor irritant to celebrations the world had been waiting to watch. Gayle, who might have failed with just 3 off 16, was the man dancing the hardest with every falling wicket. He was also the first with his arm around Rampaul, who bowled an over late in the piece that was as ordinary as his first wicket was extraordinary.

After that 22-run over, Sri Lanka needed 44 from four overs, not unheard of in T20. Sammy, though, had kept the trump card back. On cue, Narine delivered Kulasekara's wicket. The birthday boy, Bravo, who had got a shocker from the umpire when he batted, was the man at the end of the two catches that finished the match.

The time had finally arrived to party, and West Indies partied as well as they had played.

Match Result

West Indies grab the victory by 36 runs.

Man Of The Match

Man of the match was given to MN Samuels for his fabolous knock of 78 off 56 balls and took 1 wicket for 15 runs in his 4 overs.