T20 final joy for ex-Crompton pro

FORMER Crompton professional Darren Sammy and his West Indies side spoiled Sri Lanka's party at the Premadasa Stadium – but were still the toast of Colombo for their countless followers in the Caribbean and beyond.

The Windies' 36–run win looked a highly unlikely outcome for much of the ICC World Twenty20 final, but in the end Marlon Samuels' belligerent 78 from 56 balls turned the match.

Samuels saw a clutch of his fellow top–order ball–strikers fail to register on a slow but fair pitch.

He pushed his team up to 137 for six – a total which, contrary to expectation, proved far too many for Sri Lanka.

It was a turn of events which deflated the vast majority in a partisan 35,000 sell–out crowd.

But it may conversely breathe new life into West Indies cricket for years to come, after a generation of mediocrity since the heydays of the 1970s and 80s.

Sammy was paid man at Glebe Street between 2007 and 2008 before appearances for his country at Test and one-day level led to his departure.








Our website carries only a small selection of edited stories from tonight’s print and eChron editions



Follow us on Twitter @oldhamchronicle