Cricket is a game of action: Sammy

Quick Single: West Indies triumph in thriller

The pre-match talk between Australia and West Indies came to a dramatic climax in Mirpur on Friday night, with two of the chief protagonists inevitably cast in the lead roles of a classic conclusion to a remarkable World Twenty20 contest.

Allrounder James Faulkner had expressed his dislike for the West Indies side in the build-up to the clash, and their captain, Darren Sammy, had responded in kind, suggesting such talk was cheap in his press conference on match eve.

As fate would have it, it was that pair that mattered most when the whips were cracking, and 12 runs were required from six balls.

Faulkner began the final over with two dot balls, and at that point had conceded just 15 runs from his 20 deliveries to help put Australia into a potentially match-winning position.

Sammy however, fresh from plundering Mitchell Starc for 19 in the previous over, stepped up to cream two sixes from the next two balls and complete a thrilling turnaround.

In all, the West Indian skipper had faced the final 10 balls of the innings, scoring all 31 runs needed to keep his side alive in the tournament and more than likely eliminate Australia.

"Like I said in the pre-match press conference, talk is cheap," Sammy said afterward.

"Cricket is a game of action, you could talk all you want, but it is the action that happens on the field that matters. West Indies acted today, it feels very good to come home.

"It was not an easy win. We fought for it. That win will definitely hurt them. I guess Faulkner would not like us anymore."

Sammy admitted West Indies had used Faulkner's comments as motivation, though only to a point, instead focusing on a belief that the Australians were susceptible in the heat of battle.

"We discussed the issues. We discussed the way we were going to play them," he said.

"We decided we are going to come hard at them. We know they are a team, once we put them under pressure, most times when pressure is on, they don't respond quite well.

"That's why (Chris) Gayle from the first over of Starc went after him. That's the kind of pressure we are talking.

"Like I said before, we don't talk of the cricket. Cricket is played out there in the middle. That's what we were focusing on.

"We did mention of how they were talking, and used it as motivation for us to come out and play the game. I thought they got a good score but we were extra motivated to go down and chase it."

The excitement of the West Indians was illustrated in spectacular fashion through their victory celebrations, with Gayle storming onto the field and revisiting his 'Gangnam-style' jig as the men from the Caribbean whooped it up.

Some considered the 'in your face' histrionics in poor taste, while others suggested it wasn't out of place in the context of T20 cricket.

Australia captain George Bailey offered simply: "I guess they're entitled to celebrate however they like. The art of winning is almost as hard as the art of losing, isn't it."