No Slam-Bang, Just Unpredictable!

ICC World Twenty20 is said to be the most unpredictable and open tournament in cricket. West Indies' emphatic win over host Sri Lanka has added to this belief, further.
Before the start of the tournament, experts believed that West Indies had the fire power to win the title, but lack consistency like that of South Africa, India Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The team peaked at the right time of the tournament and the rest remains history.
However, the progression of West Indies in the World Twenty20 wasn't that convincing. The team entered the Super Eights, without winning a match. Once in the Super Eights, it won two matches to progress to the semis. But, in reality Darren Sammy & Co. won just one match (against England) convincingly. Its second win against New Zealand was via a super over, after the match ended in a tie.
In the semis, aggressive batting by Chris Gayle took the game away from the Australians. For sure, luck played a major role in the West Indies' ICC World Twenty20 triumph.
No one predicted West Indies to be the favourites before the start of the tournament or at the beginning of the Super Eights or ahead of the semi-final against Australia or even before the grand final. The win didn¡¯t shock anyone, but surprised many.
If we go back to the earlier editions of the tournaments, the winning team was never the favourite.

South Africa 2007: In the inaugural tournament, Australia and South Africa were the clear favourites. However, under the newly appointed captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India won the tournament defeating Pakistan.
England 2009: Defending champion India, South Africa and Australia were the pre tournament favourites. Australia was knocked out in the preliminary stage. India was shown the door in the Super Eights and South Africa lost in the semi final. Eventually, Pakistan won the tournament defeating Sri Lanka.
West Indies 2010: By the time the tournament reached the Caribbean Islands, the format became quite open. England won the tournament defeating Australia, surprising everyone by their clinical display.
Twenty20 is the most unpredictable of all the cricketing formats. It is much more than slam-bang cricket and much less than classical cricket. Consistency and past record simply doesn't make any difference here.