In a thrilling men’s T20 World Cup final, India outperformed South Africa by a margin of just seven runs, snapping a 13-year drought for the cricket-mad country since its last World Cup victory.
The men’s T20 final saw a thrilling finish in Bridgetown, Barbados, as India posted the highest-ever score of 177 to win. However, South Africa kept pace, even taking the lead at one point, until some brilliant bowling from India and a superb catch from Suryakumar Yadav kept the Proteas in check right at the very end.
After a year of heartache for several of its players who lost to Australia in the World Test Championship and ODI Cricket World Cup finals, victory ignited joyous and passionate celebrations for India.
After five overs, some excellent bowling from South Africa had reduced India to 39-3, putting pressure on India early in their innings. However, India rebuilt with Axar Patel and the star, Virat Kohli, at the wicket.
Axar and Quinton de Kock shared a 72-run partnership during which Axar hit multiple sixes over the boundary. Quinton de Kock then ran Axar out at the non-striker’s end, as Axar finished with 47 off 31 balls.
While at the other end, Kohli steadily made his way to a half century despite spending most of the game unable to hit the boundary, Shivam Dube strolled out to the middle and added a rapid 27. In his post-match interview, Kohli stated that he was playing in his final T20 encounter for India, which may have motivated him. He accelerated in the final three overs to score 76 off 59 balls, an innings that changed the course of the game.
Also read: IOA advocates for yoga to be a part of the Olympics and Asian Games.
After he left in the 18th over, India lost a number of late wickets in their attempt to reach a total of 176-7.
After the match, Jasprit Bumrah, who has already had a tremendous tournament and was crowned India’s best player, bowled Reeza Hendricks in just the second over, giving India the perfect start, and soon after, South Africa found themselves down 12 runs.
However, there was time for the game’s momentum to change again when rising sensation Tristan Stubbs and De Kock raced to a 50-run partnership, only for De Kock to be frustrated when Stubbs was bowled by Axar.
Heinrich Klaasen put on an incredible display in the 15th over, hitting Axar for 24 runs and sprinting to a half century in just 23 balls, the fastest ever in a men’s T20 World Cup final, according to Opta. South Africa was still building steadily and was on the verge of winning the match.
After pushing Hardik Pandya to Rishabh Pant, he was eventually out, providing India with a lifeline.
India’s captain Rohit Sharma brought Bumrah in to deliver his final two overs well ahead of schedule with the match hanging in the balance. The great bowler returned the favor by stifling the run rate and took out Marco Jansen for good measure.
