"It's a great feeling to win what we had not been able to do till now," said a beaming Ponting told reporters after the rain-hit game.

"This is the one we hadn't won. Full credit to all the guys for the way they played and applied themselves over the last month. When the big games come around, we put our hands up and perform.

"It does not hurt us at all that we continue to do well ahead of the Ashes but before that we will like to celebrate this win tonight. It's quite special."

It was Australia's second consecutive win in a final against the West Indies, having beaten them in the title-clash in the Malaysian tri-series (DLF Cup) in Kuala Lumpur in September.

Australia also avenged the shock defeat by Lara's men in the league stage of the Champions Trophy here last month.

West Indies raced to a solid start before left-armer Nathan Bracken bowled the explosive Chris Gayle to take three quick wickets and help skittle them for 138 in 30.4 overs.

"The bowlers did a terrific job there today. At 1-80 at one stage, we had our backs to the wall," Ponting said.

"I thought Nathan's performance was outstanding. The ball he bowled to Chris put them on the backfoot. That is where the game turned."

Australian opener Shane Watson then hit 57 not out in a 103-run third wicket partnership with Damien Martyn (47 not out) to guide Australia to a revised target of 116 after a lengthy rain interruption.

All-rounder Watson, who also took 2-11, won the player-of-the-final award.

Meanwhile, West Indies skipper Brian Lara said his team were overawed by world champions after the eight-wicket defeat.

"We worked hard to get there, but unfortunately, we were very disappointing in the final," he said at the presentation ceremony.

"The same thing happened in the DLF Cup, we didn't get runs," Lara said. "Maybe it was a little stage fright."

However, he praised his players for performing beyond expectations to boost their confidence ahead of the World Cup in the Caribbean in March and April.

"The fact of the matter is...our getting here, a lot of people did not expect us to. We've to work on crossing the final hurdle," he added.

"I am quite proud to lead this team. It has the potential to go far."

Lara also hailed explosive opener Gayle, who amassed 474 runs from eight innings with three hundreds to be named the player-of-the-tournament. Teammate Jerome Taylor was the leading bowler of the tournament with 13 wickets.

"Most definitely the guys started believing in themselves, in their talent, and began expressing themselves. That is what we need to do from here, straight up to the World Cup," he said.

"Being the host country a lot of people would expect us to do well. It definitely gives us the impetus we need to enter such a major tournament."