In the Finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, India defeated South Africa by seven runs at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first. The first over went well for the Indian side, with Virat Kohli (76) playing his trademark shot, showing his return to form. Skipper Rohit (9) also played a successful reverse shot but later unfortunately got out while playing an orthodox sweep. The Men in Blue further lost two more wickets of Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav in quick succession. It was Axar Patel‘s (47) knock which revived the innings for India. While Virat was playing the anchor’s role, the southpaw batter, from the other end, backed himself to hit four maximums. Post Axar’s unfortunate wicket, courtesy of Quinton de Kock’s presence of mind, Virat also stepped up and reached his fifty. Post the milestone, the right-handed batter hammered a few out of the park. Towards the end, Shivam Dube (27*) and Hardik Pandya (5*) also had handy knocks, which helped India reach a decent score of 176/7 in 20 overs.
In the chase, SA lost two early wickets and possessed similar faith as India’s in the powerplay. It was Quinton de Kock‘s (39) and Tristan Stubbs‘ (31) partnership, which revived SA in the chase. Both batters added 58 runs for the third wicket partnership and even after losing their wickets, the win was still looking quite solid. Heinrich Klassen (52) also smashed fifty, which included two fours and five sixes and from the other end, David Miller (21) also was clinical with the bat and if it hadn’t been for some wonderful bowling from Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh, SA’s victory would have been inevitable. With 16 to get off six, Miller lost his wicket on the first delivery to Pandya, after which India claimed the win quite comfortably.
While defending, Hardik Pandya secured three wickets while giving away just 20 runs. Two wickets each were also scalped by Bumrah and Arshdeep, and with them, Axar Patel also managed to claim one wicket. Notably, it was Bumrah’s second spell in the end which held SA batters. Arshdeep also had a similar impact in the 19th over, while in the last over, Pandya defended 16 runs to take India over the victory line.
For South Africa with the ball, two wickets each were grabbed by Keshav Maharaj and Anrich Nortje. Along with them, Marco Jansen, and Kagiso Rabada also bagged one wicket each.
Virat Kohli was adjudged Player of the Match for his impressive batting performance. Following this victory, India won their second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, fourth overall World Cup, and fifth ICC trophy.
Scorecard:
India: 176/7, Overs 20, Virat Kohli 76, Keshav Maharaj 2/23
South Africa: 169/8, Overs 20, Heinrich Klassen 52, Hardik Pandya 3/20