India emerged as the champions of the Twenty20 World Cup for the second time after the Men in Blue defeated South Africa by seven runs at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados Saturday.
Playing a World Cup final [One Day Internationals and T20 Internationals combined] for the first time in history, the Proteas had almost done the job against the lethal India bowling attack.
The Rainbow Nation needed 30 off the last five overs after Heinrich Klaasen demolished spinner Axar Patel in the 15th over.
In the over, South Africa got 24 as Klaasen smashed two boundaries and as many over boundaries.
But that was the closest the African nation could get to silverware as they choked yet again.
Player of the tournament Jasprit Bumrah held the reigns back in the next over, giving away just four runs, while Hardik Pandya started over No 17 with the wicket of Klassen.
The right-handed-batter was fiery, hammering 52 off 27 balls with five sixes and two fours.
It also broke the fifth-wicket partnership of 45 with David Miller (21) who stood as the last established batter for South Africa.
Miller tried to sneak it through with the tail enders but the required rate kept shooting up.
In the last over, the Proteas required 16.
Miller, on strike, struck the first ball, a full toss of Pandya, firmly but it turned into a sensational catch at the ropes at the hands of Suryakumar Yadav.
This ensured India lifted their second T20 World Cup trophy having won the first in the maiden edition in 2007 in South Africa.
The Men in Blue celebrated with hugs and tears of joy.
There was also relief since this was their first world title after grabbing the 2011 50-over World Cup.
The stands dominated by India fans waved the flags high while on the background, the DJ played a famous track of singer Arijit Singh from the biopic on Team India who claimed the 1983 Cricket World Cup.
India are undefeated in T20 Internationals in 2024, picking up nine wins and a tie from their 10 fixtures with that tie seeing the Men in Blue win in the Super Over on the day; in fact, they are the only full member team unbeaten in the format this year and one of only five international sides overall.
Earlier, Virat Kohli cleared his dues to the team in this edition as the right-handed batter stood up on the occasion of the side’s first grand finale in 10 years.
The elegant 35-year old scored 76 to propel his side to 176.
Batting first, India got off to a flaming start before the Proteas took control of the situation.
Despite a tropical storm in forecast in Barbados, the day started bright and sunny as Kohli opened the game for India with three boundaries in the first over to get 15 runs on the board.
But the party got derailed briefly in the next over after left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj initiated a double strike, first removing captain Rohit Sharma for nine before dismissing Rishabh Pant for a two-ball duck.
India lost another wicket in the fourth over, that of Suryakumar Yadav [3] but that could not make a dent with Kohli holding strong at one end of the crease.
The former India skipper was like a wall on the big occasion as he registered his 38th half-century in the format.
The 59-ball innings was laced with six boundaries and two over boundaries.
Prior to this, he had a highest score of 37 in this edition, against Bangladesh, and the tournament tally was at 75 in seven innings with two ducks – against USA and Australia.
There was no surprise that every run and boundary scored by Kohli on the day was celebrated by the India fans both in the stands and in front of the screens, and also a bit at the corner of the press box at Kensington Oval.
Kohli was involved in two fifty-plus partnerships, the first for the fourth wicket with Axar Patel.
They added 72 off 54 before a run out in the 14th over showed Axar his way back to the dressing room.
Axar fell short by three runs from a half-century, scoring a 31-ball 47 with one four and four maximums.
Kohli’s second 50-run stand was with Shivam Dube.
This time it was a blazing 57 off 33 before Kohli perished on the last ball of over No 19 bowled by left-arm pacer Marco Jansen.
Dube got dismissed on 27 off 16 with two balls to spare in the innings.
FINAL
India 176/7 (Kohli 76, Patel 47) beat South Africa 169/8 (Klaasen 52, Pandya 3/20) by 7 runs
