ICC World Twenty20 2012: West Indies Won, Marlon Samuels 78* in Final vs Sri Lanka, Hosted in Sri Lanka

The ICC World Twenty20 2012 was the fourth edition of the T20 World Cup, hosted in Sri Lanka in September and October 2012. Sri Lanka, as host, had the significant advantage of playing all their matches in home conditions — on the spin-friendly pitches and slow outfields of Colombo and other Sri Lankan venues — with Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Lasith Malinga, and Ajantha Mendis among the most experienced and skilled T20 cricketers in the world. West Indies came into the tournament with an exceptionally talented T20 squad that had been building for several years: Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels at the top, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard in the middle and lower order, and a pace attack that included Ravi Rampaul and Fidel Edwards. The tournament demonstrated, above all, that T20 cricket rewarded a specific combination of attributes — explosive batting, athletic fielding, and the psychological resilience of the Caribbean cricket tradition — that the West Indies possessed in abundance.

The Semi-Final: Gayle Destroys Australia

West Indies' semi-final against Australia in Colombo was defined by Chris Gayle's innings of 75 off 41 balls — a destructive display of power hitting at the top of the order that destroyed Australia's bowling attack from the first over and set West Indies on course for a total of 205 for 4. Australia, despite having competitive batsmen and a decent attack, could not match that total and were eliminated. Gayle's innings exemplified the particular brand of T20 batting that West Indian batsmen had developed — an approach built around hitting the ball over the boundary rather than finding the gaps, on the premise that maximising big-hit potential per delivery was more efficient in T20 cricket than in any other format. The match confirmed that West Indies were genuine T20 contenders rather than a team that had qualified on reputation alone.

The Final: Samuels 78* and West Indies Win

The final against Sri Lanka at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo was the tournament's defining match: Sri Lanka, with home advantage and the support of the Colombo crowd, batted second after West Indies posted 137 for 6. The West Indies total was built around Marlon Samuels' innings of 78 not out — a controlled, technically accomplished innings that demonstrated a different dimension of West Indian batting: placement and timing alongside power. Samuels faced 56 balls and hit six fours and three sixes in an innings that was the backbone of West Indies' total. Sri Lanka, chasing 138, were restricted to 101 for 7 — losing by 36 runs. Darren Sammy captained West Indies to the title, and the victory was described as the beginning of West Indian cricket's T20 renaissance — a period in which the Caribbean nations would use the format to restore global cricket standing that had been declining in Test and ODI cricket since the mid-1990s. West Indies became only the second nation after India (2007) to win the ICC World Twenty20.