ICC T20 World Cup 2012 Final: Sri Lanka vs West Indies - Players to watch out for

A look at the top five performers for the finalists who can make a difference.

Zeenews Sports Bureau

West Indies will be looking for a first ever World Championship title to adorn their trophy cabinet in three decades while Sri Lanka will be hoping to become the first host nation to win World T20 title on a super Sunday. It promises to be a cracker of a contest and here we take a look at the players who can make the difference. Chris Gayle The burly Jamaican has been a toast of the town owing to his slaughter of the oppositions with his imposing willow and ‘Gangnam style’ theatrics. After settling his disputes with the West Indies cricket board, the swashbuckling batsman has been one of the leading performers for the Caribbean team. With three fifties and 219 runs in the ongoing WT20, Gayle is certainly going to be the most destructive weapon for the team aiming for a World title after a gap of almost three decades. He is one man that can prove to be the difference in the final if he gets going. Sunil Narine Sunil Narine comprises the new breed of modern bowlers that are most often described as the ‘mystery spinners’. These bowlers are capable of not just picking up wickets but are misers too when it comes to giving away runs, strangulating the batting team. Narine will be another potent weapon for the Windies team. Narine has bowled 21 overs so far and given 130 runs while picking up six wickets as well. Lasith Malinga Lasith Malinga came to his own in the Super-8 fixture against England where he took five wickets to send the defending champions crashing out of the tournament. The slinger has the ability of picking early wickets and can build pressure from the other end with his stinging yorkers. Malinga has picked eight wickets at 19.12 in six games so far. Tillakarante Dilshan With his ‘Dilscoop’ Tillakarante Dilshan can provide a blistering start to the Lankan innings and has been in a good nick this tournament. His knock of 76 runs helped Lanka to tie their group fixture against the Kiwis which they ultimately won in the Super Over. His aggressive strokeplay at the top can set the tone for posting a big total or can trigger a perfect start for a chase. So far, Dilshan has scored 76 runs in six games for Lanka at 29.83 hitting 17 fours and four sixes. Ajantha Mendis Ajantha Mendis is the joint leading wicket taker of the 2012 ICC T20 World tournament and it is no surprise that his team is aiming for the glory in the final. With his ‘carom ball’ he has left many a batsman puzzled and after being out of the Lankan team for over seven months, Mendis celebrated his comeback to the national side by picking up six wickets in the opening game of the WT20 against Zimbabwe. His 6/8 against a hapless Zimbabwean side is the best by a bowler in T20I. So far, he has taken 11 wickets in six games for Lanka at 12.27.