From 30 runs needed off 30 deliveries with six wickets in hand to win the Twenty20 World Cup title to losing the plot and succumbing to defeat by seven runs.
Perhaps only one team can bottle it from here - South Africa – and they duly choked once again.
The Proteas failed to hold their nerve and broke the hearts of millions of fans back home.
When Heinrich Klaasen smashed 22, two sixes and as many fours, against Axar Patel and overall 24 runs came in the 15th over, the game was absolutely in South Africa’s grasp as they required only 30 off 30 to win a World Cup.
After 16 overs, Klaasen was batting on 52 off 26 and David Miller was unbeaten on 15 off nine and the Proteas needed almost a run a ball every over.
South Africa had a golden chance to cement their name in the history of the game but they bottled it big time.
As the game was slipping away, skipper Rohit Sharma brought India’s best weapon Jasprit Bumrah from their bowling armory and Bumrah bowled two magnificent overs.
It was a world-class display of fast bowling in death overs as the right-arm pacer put the brakes on South Africa’s free flowing run-scoring.
Bumrah conceded just four runs in the 16th over and thus the equation stood at 26 off 24 with two well-set batsmen at the crease.
Another clever move by Rohit was to bring Hardik Pandya back into the attack and the right-arm seamer did exactly what India needed from him at that time.
Pandya picked up the wicket of Klaasen in the first ball of the 17th over to bring some hope for India.
Klaasen, who was blazing all around the park, chased a wide delivery a bit casually and got an edge which went to wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant.
Four runs came from that Pandya over with the wicket of Klaasen and it was 22 required from 18 deliveries.
Bumrah did his magic once again in the next over as he conceded just two runs and bagged the wicket of Marco Jansen with a brilliant inswinger.
This two-over spell from Bumrah and Pandya’s wicket of Klassen turned the momentum towards India again and Arshdeep Singh leaked just four in the 19th to leave 16 runs for the final over.
And off the first ball of the last over, Miller was dismissed thanks to a superb effort and stunning catch by Suryakumar Yadav at the long-off boundary.
Eventually, they fell seven runs short of the target.
Just like many heartbreaks in World Cups for the great South African teams in the past, be it Birmingham in 1999 or Durban in 2003 or Auckland in 2015, Barbados will add another sad chapter in the Proteas’ cricket history as they lost yet again with the finishing line in sight.
This defeat perhaps will hurt them the most as they were inches away from becoming world champions but failed to score 30 off 30 with six wickets in hand in a T20 match on a solid batting wicket.
And thus, South Africa continue to be called the chokers and in the end, the old ghost haunted them once more on the world stage.
