West Indies are World T20 Champions

Colombo: Darren Sammy's West Indies were crowned the new World Twenty20 champions on Sunday after a 36-run victory over hosts Sri Lanka in a dramatic final in Colombo on Sunday.

Scorecard

The West Indies, restricted to 137-6 after electing to bat, hit back to bowl Sri Lanka out for 101 and silence a sell-out crowd of 35,000 at the Premadasa stadium that included President Mahinda Rajapakse.

It was the first world title for the West Indies since the 50-over World Cup triumph under Clive Lloyd in 1979, and handed Sri Lanka their fourth defeat in a major final since 2007.

Spinner Sunil Narine grabbed three wickets for nine runs and Sammy took two as the hosts, who had excelled in the field in the first session, undid the good work with irresponsible batting in the second.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene survived two dropped catches to top-score with 33, while tailender Nuwan Kulasekara hit 26 off 13 balls, including three fours and a six in the 16th over of seamer Ravi Rampaul.

Sri Lanka's unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis had taken four wickets for 12 runs as the West Indies collapsed once Chris Gayle was removed in the sixth over for only three runs.

Marlon Samuels was the only batsman to defy the spot-on Sri Lankan bowling, making 78 off 56 balls with the help of six sixes and three boundaries.

His brilliant strokeplay helped the West Indies add 105 runs in the last 10 overs after they were reduced to 32-2 from the first 10.

Sri Lanka lost opener Tillakaratne Dilshan in the second over before Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara added 42 for the second wicket.

The hosts were cruising at 48-1 in the 10th over when the West Indies bounced back by claiming four wickets for 13 runs.

Sangakkara holed out in the deep off Samuel Badree for 22, Angelo Mathews was bowled by Darren Sammy, Jayawardene was caught off a reverse sweep and Jeevan Mendis ran himself out.

Sri Lanka had taken an early grip on the match by keeping the West Indies down to 14-2 in the first six powerplay overs after Johnson Charles had been dismissed off the fifth ball of the match.

The West Indies had to wait till the 19th delivery to score their first run with the bat and Gayle needed nine balls to get off the mark.

The left-hander struggled for 16 deliveries to make three before he was trapped leg-before by Mendis in the sixth over.

It was not till the 12th over that the West Indies, who had pummelled Australia in the semi-finals, showed the first signs of aggression as Dwayne Bravo pulled 19-year-old spinner Akila Dananjaya for a six over mid-wicket.

Samuels responded by smashing three sixes in the next over of sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga, two of them in succession over mid-wicket and extra-cover.

Bravo helped Samuels add 59 runs for the third wicket when he was given out leg-before by Australian umpire Simon Taufel, even though replays showed the ball go off the bat on to the pad.

The 17th over, bowled by Malinga, produced 19 runs as Samuels smashed a boundary and two consecutive sixes to leave the frontline bowler with unflattering figures of 0-54 from his four overs.

Sri Lanka have now lost two successive 50-over World Cup finals in 2007 and 2011 and two World Twenty20 finals in 2009 and 2012 

Sehwag should find a place in the XI if he is fit

This match takes me back to 2005, when Pakistan were touring India under my captaincy. As a team, we were no match for the strong Indian side and as expected, we were down and out on the fourth day of the first Test. Having lost seven wickets, we expected the fifth day to be over quite early. But Kamran Akmal and Abdur Razzaq had other ideas.

They batted out the day and we saved the match. Their performance lifted the team's spirit and suddenly, we started believing we could take on the Indians on their turf. We ended up drawing the Test series and took the ODI series.

Similarly, Umar Gul's effort with the bat against South Africa on Friday will have the team believing that nothing is impossible.

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Pakistan have got the combination and balance right. Their spinners, including the young Raza Hasan, are doing well.

The batting was top heavy before the match against the Proteas but the lower order has shown it can stand up to situations.

The players are performing as an unit and this might be their best chance to beat India in a world cup for the first time.

But they will have to guard against overconfidence and complacency, as they have a history of becoming laidback after a good win.

India, on the other hand, were simply outclassed by Australia. MS Dhoni and his boys will be coming into the Pakistan match with tremendous pressure on them. Not only because they are facing Pakistan but also because this could be a knockout game for them.

This match will be watched by more people than the final, unless these two teams are in it.

You need to have played an India-Pakistan match to know the pressure this match generates for the players.

The main problem for India is their bowling. If any team scores 175-180, India have the batting to chase it. But their bowling does not look like it can defend such a target.

What India need is a shot of pace. A fast-bowler might get clobbered for a few runs but if he gets two early wickets, it makes the spinners' job that much easier.

Like in the England game, for instance, when Irfan Pathan struck early on and the spinners subsequently looked unplayable.

If India are to succeed, they will have to strike early with the ball.

Also, I don't know much about the Virender Sehwag issue. But if he is fit, my advice to Dhoni is simple - put his name first on the team list.