Lara was happy to let Gayle take centre stage in Jaipur

"The start was excellent and laid a foundation for the success," Lara said.

"We lost the toss, we knew they were going to get in excess of 200 runs, we just had to restrict them as much as possible and 258 was a good score.

"I brought on spinners to try to get their batsmen to play shots, take the pace off. We got 258 quite easily but credit must go to the entire team."

News conference: West Indies captain Brian Lara

Lara admitted that he might well have chosen to field first had he won the toss in Jaipur.

It was one of the best innings I've ever played Chris Gayle

"We talked about the toss and thought chasing would be a good idea and then proved that, it was a tremendous pitch." he said.

The skipper added that playing three qualifying matches before the start of the main tournament was a help not a hindrance, and allowed useful acclimatisation.

"It set the tone for us, we appreciated the fact we were playing competitive cricket compared to other teams who had qualified for the group stages already," he said.

Cavalier opener Gayle was delighted with his 15th one-day century, the third he has scored in his team's seven matches in the tournament thus far.

"I'd put it in my top five innings, it was one of the best I've ever played," he said.

"I've been trying to work on capitalising after getting a start.

"Shiv (Chanderpaul) really supported me well out there and took a lot of pressure off, (Ramnaresh) Sarwan played a big part and we're looking good."

Sarwan added that team unity has played a large part in the side reaching the final for the second time in succession.

"We've been keeping a group of guys together and that's very important," he said.

He was less enthused than his captain at having to compete with Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to qualify for the group stages of the event in India.