T20 World Cup 2024: India break South African hearts in final to end 17-year-long wait for title
Virat Kohli shone with the bat while Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh scripted an incredible turnaround with the ball as India won the final by seven runs.
Cricket
The Indian men’s cricket team beat South Africa by seven runs in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.
This was India’s second T20 World Cup win and the first since MS Dhoni led them to victory in the first-ever edition held in 2007.
Electing to bat first after winning the toss, India, on the hunt for their second T20 World Cup title, recovered from a poor start to post 176/7 on the board thanks to a Virat Kohli half-century.
The Proteas, playing their first-ever World Cup final in any format, seemed to be cruising towards the title on the back of Heinrich Klaasen’s blitzkrieg but Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah’s combative showing with the ball swung the match in the death overs.
Indian T20 captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli got India to a brisk start but Keshav Maharaj dealt the inaugural T20 World Cup champions a double blow in the second over, dismissing the captain and Rishabh Pant within a span of three balls.
Suryakumar Yadav’s stay out in the middle was also short-lived as he was holed out in the deep while trying to heave Kagiso Rabada over fine leg.
Reeling at 34/3, India needed a rebuild and an unlikely partnership between Kohli and Axar Patel (47) helped the Men in Blue past 100. Axar, unfortunately, was run out just three short of his 50 courtesy of some brilliant work by Quinton de Kock from behind the stumps.
Kohli, who held the innings together, reached his first half-century of the tournament in 48 balls before stepping on the accelerator. He managed 26 from the next 11 before being dismissed and along with Shivam Dube (27 off 16), helped India post 176/7 in 20 overs - the highest total in T20 World Cup finals to date.
Anrich Nortje picked up a couple of wickets in the final over to deny India a bigger score in the match.
Defending the total, Jasprit Bumrah knocked over Reeza Hendricks (4) while Arshdeep Singh accounted for Proteas captain Aiden Markram for the exact same score to give India the early advantage.
A brisk 58-run second wicket stand between Quinton de Kock and Tristan Stubbs threatened to take the game away from India quickly before Axar’s arm ball knocked off Stubbs’ bells. The South African, with 31 off 21, had just started to look dangerous.
Heinrich Klaasen picked up just from where Stubbs had left off and continued finding the boundaries. Arshdeep came back into the attack to dismiss de Kock (39) but Klaasen’s onslaught continued as the South African heavy hitter reached his half-century in just 23 balls.
Hardik Pandya gave India a glimmer of hope after getting Klaasen to edge one to Pant in the 17th over. But with 26 to get off the final 23 deliveries and five wickets in hand, South Africa were still in the driver’s seat.
Bumrah brushing over Marco Jansen’s bells with his final over set the match up for an interesting finish. Arshdeep followed up with a tight penultimate over which yielded just four runs, leaving Hardik with 15 to defend in the final six deliveries.
David Miller’s slog from the very first ball seemed destined beyond the boundary rope but in stepped Suryakumar Yadav, with a sensational catch at the high-pressure situation, ensured Miller’s departure from the crease.
South Africa eventually fell an agonising seven runs short of the title.
IND vs SA T20 World Cup 2024 final brief scores: India 176/7 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 76, Axar Parel 47; Keshav Maharaj 2/23) beat South Africa 169/8 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 52; Hardik Pandya 3/20) by seven runs.