"I also had a little message, to wave to someone at home in Australia about something in my glove," he said.

"(It was) the guy (Bob Meuleman) who helps me with my batting at home," he explained. "I had a squash ball in my bottom hand in the glove that I use in training just to help with my grip.

"I decided I will use that in this World Cup in a match but hadn't.

Last Words

"His last words to me before I left the indoor training centre where I train with him in Perth were 'if you are going to use it, make sure when you score a hundred in the final you show me and prove to me you got it in there'.

"I had stayed true to that."

Gilchrist bettered skipper Ricky Ponting's 140 not out in the 2003 final against India, the previous highest score in a World Cup final.

"What I do know is the belief that arrives from the team mates around you and the coaching staff around you and everyone involved," he said.

"That belief those guys gave me allowed me to go out and play with freedom."

Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene said Gilchrist had put the game out of his side's reach.

"It was a brilliant innings," he said. "Unfortunately, I was the opposition captain looking at it."