T20I World Cup 2024 Final: India Become T20I Champs For The Second Time As South Africa Choke Again

 

India defeated South Africa in the final of the T20I World Cup 2024 in a nail-biting contest and lift an ICC trophy after eleven long years.

Toss:

India won the toss and elected to bat first on a flat track in Bridgetown, Barbados.

India's Batting:

India came out to bat and struggled big time as they lost three wickets in the power play, including the skipper and star batter, Rohit Sharma. But Virat Kohli, who had a tournament to forget, was still out there and helped India get past that struggling phase alongside Axar Patel. The pair built a partnership of 72 runs, where Axar played the aggressor and Virat played the anchor. Later in the innings, Shivam Dube also played a handy cameo, which helped India reach a total of 176 in 20 overs. Looking at the pitch, it looked like India were still 15 to 20 runs short, but it was never going to be a cakewalk in front of a quality Indian bowling attack.

South Africa's batting:

South Africa also started their innings off a bit shaky and lost both Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram in the power play. Tristian Stubbs came and played a good cameo alongside Quinton De Kock, who was holding down the other end. After Stubbs departed, in came Heinrich Klaasen, and he played an explosive knock of 52 runs with a strike rate of 192, hammering the Indian spinners all over the park. South Africa were really close to lift their first ever T20I World Cup but...

The choke:

What happened next can qualify for yet another choke, the Proteas needed 26 runs from 24 balls with 6 wickets in hand and no one expected South Africa to lose the game from there. But Indian bowlers had other plans as Hardik Pandya got rid of Klaasen on the first ball of the 17th over and that resulted as the match winning wicket. India just conceded 10 runs in the next three overs, courtesy brilliant death bowling by their pacers. South Africa needed 16 from the last over, which was a really difficult task. Their only hope left was David Miller, but he also got dismissed on the first ball of the last over, courtesy a mind-blowing catch by Suryakumar Yadav. 

Winning moments:

The next five balls went smoothly and India became CHAMPIONS of this format for the second time, equalling West Indies and England. The skipper of the Indian team, Rohit Sharma, was on the ground emotional, Pandya had tears in his eyes and so did Kohli. The players were relieved and happy as this was a big achievement for them. For the last eleven years they have come so close to winning an ICC trophy but lost every single time. The recent heartbreak was the loss to Australia in the finals of ODI World Cup 2023 in Ahmedabad. But this would feel even better as they defeated Australia in the super 8s as well as England in the semis and then South Africa in the finals, ending the tournament by beating three cricketing giants and staying undefeated throughout. 

Brilliant Bumrah:

Jasprit Bumrah was named player of the tournament, as he completely deserved it. He was phenomenal all tournament, including the final. His spell is the reason India are champions right now. He has delivered for India in crunch situations time and time again, and his second spell can be called a game changing one in the final against the Proteas.

Two icons retiring:

After the match, both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their retirement from the T20I format, allowing the younger talent to takeover in the near future. It was also the best time and occasion to bid farewell to this format as the two greats have achieved everything they wanted, specially Kohli as he needed a T20I World Cup to complete his trophy cabinet. They will go down as two of the greatest batters the world has ever seen in this format.