Captain Brian Lara praised the efforts of tailenders Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw after the unlikely duo had guided the West Indies to a two-wicket win over England in the ICC Champions Trophy here at the Oval on Saturday.
The pair put on 71 for the ninth wicket, after West Indies had been 147-8, to get their side past England's 217 with seven wickets to spare.
The stand was a ninth record for the West Indies in one-day cricket surpassing the 63 set by Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall in Sydney in 1985 and took their side to their first major trophy since the 1979 World Cup.
Bradshaw made 34 not out and Browne an unbeaten 35 as the pair saw off England's most hostile bowlers in almost unplayable light for a memorable win.
"It was a tremendous effort. It is great to see the guys believe in themselves - I'm not sure if Bradshaw has even had a net," said Lara.
"They are two guys from Barbados who have played together in many matches so I expected them to cope out there."
Bradshaw said his performance was the best of his career.
"It is the biggest moment of my career and I was overcome with emotion at the end. I knew what it meant to the team and people and I'm just happy to be a part of it."
And Lara hopes the win will lift the spirits of the people in the Caribbean who have been affected by the recent hurricanes.
"We have been lying in bed in England covered by a duvet and people in the Caribbean have been fending for themselves and their families. A lot of us have family and friends in the Grenada and Jamaica and we all feel very sad for people out there.
"This is an opportunity for everyone in the Caribbean to rejoice. It is a great achievement for the team, we have been under a lot of pressure in Test and one-day cricket and to come out after our dismal summer and perform this well against England - the same team who have beaten us seven times out of eight in Tests - is a tremendous effort."
England captain Michael Vaughan admitted he thought the game was in the bag when Browne and Bradshaw came together.
"This is something new for us. We have had an outstanding summer and not lost many games of cricket and in the last few weeks we have been very good in the one-day stuff," said Vaughan.
"When we had them 147 for eight I was confident of winning the game but sometimes you've got to take your hat off to the opposition. They played very sensibly."
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