T20 World Cup 2012 Final:Sri Lanka vs West Indies,live score

Sri Lanka will clash with West Indies in the finals of the T20 World Cup 2012 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.

Sri Lanka are aiming to win their second world title after a gap of 16 years as their first and only World trophycame in 1996 while the Caribbean side are playing a World event final after nearly 30 years, having last played against India at the Lord's in 1983.

Sri Lanka made the final of two successive 50-over World Cups in 2007 and 2011, and also the World Twenty20 in 2009,but were unable to win when it mattered most, frustrating fans, former players and media alike.

 
Sri Lanka would look to rein in a marauding Chris Gayle, whose performance may be a determining factor when the dominating hosts  take on  West Indies.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy  said  "We are ready to spoil the Sri Lankan party by winning the coveted title  That's what we're looking to do. We left home on a mission and like I have said before, it is just one more hurdle to jump."

Chris Gayle, who has been aggressively tweeting before every West Indies match had commented, "Sorry Sri Lanka, but we will win the final" after the semifinal win over Australia. The Lankan skipper was certainly not amused.

 "When somebody says something like that, is the pressure on us or on him?" Mahela Jayawardene countered.
 

Mahela Jayawardene has some  some good players Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and the captain.But Angelo Mathews and Jeevan Mendis  are all rounders   Despite that though, Sri Lanka does have a few all rounders who can turn it up on the big day, Angelo Mathews and Jeevan Mendis to name a few.
  

Sri Lanka should be favourites not only because of home conditions but also due to the variety of players from  MahelaJayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara to Thisara Perera who can change their game according to the needs.

Strengths of West Indies

Chris Gayle  is the most talked about  player in this Caribbean set-up..

 Apart from Gayle at the top, West Indies  have some  very competent T20 players like  Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard  bowler. who  promises to put in a venomous performance.
 

When Gayle was questioned whether he would be able to attack the bowling of Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Rangana Herath like he launched into Xavier Doherty, he replied, "He (Herath) has bowled really well but the performance depends on that particular day."

 For Jayawardene and Sangakkara, it will be the fourthfinal after 2007 World Cup, 2009 World T20 and 2011 World Cup and the two seniors are desperate to lift the trophy before their home crowd.

 

For the West Indies, a lot of things will be at stake in the match. It's not that there will be a sea change in thedeclining cricket culture in the Caribbean islands but a victory on global stage might provide encouragement for the youth, who are more obsessed with basketball and dream of making the cut in the NBA league.





The squads are as below:

Sri Lanka: 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Mahela Jayawardene, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Lahiru Thirimanne, 5 Jeevan Mendis, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Lasith Malinga, 10 Ajantha Mendis, 11 Rangana Herath.

West Indies: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Dwayne Bravo, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Darren Sammy (capt.), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Denesh Ramdin, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Samuel Badree.