Samuels, who hit five of his six 6's off T20 specialist Lasith Malinga, made a brilliant 78 off 56 balls, even as Ajantha Mendis returned figures of four for 12.
Samuels alone spoiled Malinga's figures as he went for 54 off four overs after Mendis pegged the West Indies back.
While only 32 runs came off the first 10 overs, the Caribbeans courtesy Samuels and skipper Darren Sammy (26 no, 15 balls, 3x4) managed 106 in the back 10.
The total might not be a challenging one but the manner in which Samuels batted having scored more than half the runs, the innings will be remembered for a long time to come especially as other West Indian batsmen looked like lambs ready to be slaughtered.
The pressure of playing a World Cup final was telling on Johnson Charles as he offered a simple catch to Nuwan Kulasekara at mid-off in Angelo Mathews' opening over which was a wicket maiden.
The first run for West Indies came when Kulasekara bowled a wide after three dot balls in the second over. The first run off the bat came off the 17th legal delivery and the first boundary in the next over when Samuels punched one through covers.
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Gayle, who has been predicting results like 'Paul the Octopus' in the last few days, was strangled by the Lankan bowlers and finally Mendis got him with a straighter one that looked like hitting the leg-stump.
The Powerplay yielded only 14 runs for West Indies and Sri Lanka had already got the opposition match-winner out of the equation.
There were no demons in the pitch and the ball was coming onto the bat nicely but Sri Lankan bowlers maintained discipline throughout.