The West Indies are World T20 Champions!

The West Indies are the new World Twenty 20 champions after  achieving a thrilling 36 -run victory over hosts Sri Lanka in a dramatic final in Colombo on Sunday.

The West Indies, limited to 137-6 after electing to bat, came back strong to bowl Sri Lanka out for 101 and silence a sell-out crowd of 35,000 at the Premadasa stadium.

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

Sunil Narine nabbed three wickets conceding nine runs and Sammy took two as the hosts, who were excellent in the field during the first session, undid the excellent work with poor batting in the second.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene was lucky with two dropped catches to score 33 runs, while tailender Nuwan Kulasekara hit 26 off 13 balls.

Sri Lanka’s spinner Ajantha Mendis took four wickets for 12 runs as the West Indies collapsed after Chris Gayle was evicted in the sixth over for a mere three runs.

Marlon Samuels was the only batsman to hold firm against the Sri Lankan bowling, making 78 off 56 balls.

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

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

It was not till the 12th over that the West Indies, who had destroyed Australia in the semi-finals, showed some aggression as Dwayne Bravo smashed 19-year-old spinner Akila Dananjaya for a six.

Samuels responded by hitting three sixes in the next over off sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga.

Sri Lanka have now placed 2nd in two successive 50-over World Cup finals in 2007 and 2011 and two World Twenty 20 finals in 2009 and 2012.