Suryakumar Yadav snatched a boundary catch for the ages, Jasprit Bumrah snuck in two electric final overs, and Hardik Pandya pilfered the two big wickets as India pulled off one of their great heists to win a World Cup, finally. Jasprit Bumrah didn’t quite break the partnership, the batters never daring to take him on. But he did break Klaasen and Miller’s stride. They scrambled only four runs off that over.
As much as they dread the term and insist that they don’t carry the baggage of the past, it came back to haunt South Africa again, this time at the biggest stage, in their maiden final appearance. It was an incredible comeback from India towards the end of the second innings, led by Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, as they snatched victory from South Africa to lift the T20 World Cup for the second time.
Pitch and Toss
According to Ian Bishop and Nasser Hussain: Hope the weather gods are shining on us. There is a 30% chance of rain and a strong wind blowing towards fine-leg for the left-hander and that’s the shortest boundary at 56m. Don’t be surprised if Quinton de Kock targets that boundary or Suryakumar Yadav tries to open up his body. It is a central pitch so fairly even boundaries on all sides. Interesting looking surface, it is hard but there is no live grass.
Fairly hard surface so hoping the ball comes onto the bat nicely. More wickets have fallen to pacers here, so that might indicate some bounce. Won’t be surprised if there are some footmarks as the game goes on. There isn’t an extreme amount of bounce, but if you work hard you can make cross-batted shots difficult. A pretty fair pitch, doesn’t have the bounce of St Lucia or the low bounce of Guyana. We reckon it will be an even contest.
India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat in the final with no changes in the Playing XI. South African Aiden Markram bowling first also made no changes in their playing XI in their first World Cup Finals.
South Africa make early inroads to dent India in Powerplay
Any concerns around Kohli’s form in this World Cup was put to ease by the star batter who put away half-volleys from Marco Jansen, creaming three boundaries on a dry wicket which didn’t offer any movement. Rohit Sharma struck two fours off Maharaj, edging a cut and reverse-sweeping the spinner, before an attempted sweep resulted in a catch to Klaasen square of the wicket. Rishabh Pant fell soon after, top-edging a full toss from Maharaj to the ‘keeper trying to sweep.
Suryakumar got off the mark with a couple off Rabada, but wasn’t in control of the shot and just about cleared mid on. Kohli, who cut away a short ball from Maharaj for a four, employed a measured approach, looking in his bid to steady India after the quick strikes.
But Suryakumar handed a catch at fine leg trying to put away a slower delivery from Rabada, leaving India in a spot at 34/3. Axar received a promotion and he clipped a four off Rabada for his first runs. Markram brought himself on and ended the powerplay with a quiet over, conceding only six singles
Axar- Virat Kohli stand steadies India in the middle overs
Nortje came into the attack only after the powerplay and started with a four-run over. Axar then took on the spinners, bringing out the slog sweep for a six apiece off Markram and Maharaj and both the batters were happy to deal in singles and twos as they raised a half-century stand in 42 deliveries. Virat Kohli assumed the role of batting deep while Axar was looking to target the spinners, getting his third six by clearing the long on fence in Tabraiz Shamsi’s second over.
The boundary opportunities didn’t come against a disciplined Nortje but Rabada wasn’t afforded the same treatment, with Axar striking a straight six off a full delivery from Rabada to help India past 100 in the 14th over. But the partnership, worth 72 off 54, came to an end as an alert de Kock ran Axar out at the non-striker’s end. Shivam Dube got into the act straightaway, lofting a slower ball from Jansen over mid on for a six.
Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube help India finish with competitive total of 176 for 7
The headlines will say Virat Kohli top scored with 76 off 59, but there were times when this knock was labored.
Between the fourth and 18th over, Kohli faced 35 balls in which he scored 29 and hit no boundaries. When he got to fifty, he had used up 48 deliveries, and didn’t raise his bat, having batted for most of that time in ODI middle-overs mode. There was an obvious critique to make here: was this an innings so unambitious, it was actually doing India harm?
But the counter-argument is strong. Kohli had been 22 off 16 when the third wicket (Suryakumar Yadav) went down, in the fifth over. And the security he gave at one end, allowed Axar (pushed up the order No. 5) and Shivam Dube to prosper with their big-hitting. His stands with those batters reaped 72 off 54 (Axar hit 47 off 31) and 57 off 33 (Dube hit 22 off 13), and formed the heft of India’s innings. Their 176 for 7 was the most any team has scored in a World Cup final.
Shamsi bowled the 16th over and despite being hit for a four by Dube, he conceded only 8 runs. Kohli got his first fifty in this World Cup, getting there off 48 balls with a single off Nortje, before Dube played a cut past backward point for the first four off the pacer. Having last struck a boundary in the fourth over, Kohli cleared long on for a six off the first ball bowled by Rabada in the 18th over and then rolled his wrists to a short ball for a four, as 16 runs came off the over and helped India to 150.
Kohli hit a four and a six off Jansen in the 19th over before getting out to the left-arm seamer, caught in the deep trying to put away a short off cutter. The over ended with Pandya top-edging a short ball for a four, with 17 coming off it. Dube hit a four off Nortje as India posted the highest total in a T20 World Cup final. It was a good final over from the quick who kept it to 9 runs and picked up the wickets of Dube and Jadeja, but it was a good finish for India who got 101 runs in the second half of their innings.
Pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh deliver early strikes for India
There was movement early on for Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah, and the former even found the edge of Reeza Hendricks’ bat but the ball didn’t carry to the ‘keeper. Arshdeep was cut for a four in the opening over but gave away only six runs. Quinton de Kock was beaten playing inside the line to Jasprit Bumrah, who then got one to move away late from Hendricks to have him bowled.
Aiden Markram guided a Jasprit Bumrah delivery past point for a four but fell in the next over, chasing a wide delivery from Arshdeep to edge to the ‘keeper. The South African batters took on Axar Patel in the fifth over, with de Kock and Tristan Stubbs striking a four each. De Kock ended the powerplay with a four off Kuldeep Yadav as South Africa finished close to India’s powerplay score.
On a flat track in Barbados, Jasprit Bumrah bowled two unplayable deliveries that brought him two wickets – both bowled. The first of these was the better one. It was one of the best in the tournament, and very arguably one of the best ever in finals. Angled in to Reeza Hendricks, it pitched and seamed away to hit the top of off, beating the batter’s outside edge.
He conceded five runs in that first over, eight runs in the next (one of only two boundaries off his bowling came here – a not fully-controlled steer through deep third).
Arshdeep Singh was almost as outstanding, returning 2 for 20. His two powerplay overs cost only eight, and brought the important wicket of Aiden Markram, who edged him behind. In the middle overs, he dismissed Quinton de Kock, who was looking to raise the tempo after he had overseen the recover after two early blows.
Belligerent Klaasen bosses India in the middle overs
It wasn’t the best of starts for Axar and Kuldeep, who were hit for a four apiece by Stubbs before de Kock went over midwicket and hit the ball out of the ground off the wrist spinner to bring up the half-century stand off 33 balls. Stubbs slog-swept Axar for a six before the spinner hit back with a full delivery to have him bowled moving across the crease. Hardik Pandya started with three dots to Heinrich Klaasen before the batter put away a short ball over the off side for a six as South Africa had six more than India at the halfway stage.
Ravindra Jadeja also did not have the best of starts, hit for a straight six by Klaasen. The right-hander then struck a brilliant six over cover off the backfoot against Kuldeep, followed by a flick-pull for a four by de Kock that took South Africa past 100 in the 13th over. But looking to play that shot again, de Kock ended up getting caught at fine leg to hand Arshdeep his second wicket.
Miller hit a four and a six on either side of the fence off short deliveries from Kuldeep, who finished with 0 for 45. South Africa needed 53 off 36 balls at that stage and some incredible hitting from Klaasen – who struck two sixes and two fours off Axar – brought it down to 30 off 30. The left-arm spinner finished with 1-49.
One of the best hits of the tournament was Klaasen crashing a wide, Kuldeep Yadav googly way over the cover boundary for six, with minimal foot movement. That was his third six (he’d banged Hardik and Ravindra Jadeja over the rope earlier).
But it was against Axar Patel that he really thumped South Africa into the ascendancy. First ball of the 15th over, he bullied down the ground off the back foot for four. Axar bowled two wides in fear. Then later, two massive hits down the ground – one of which pounded the roof of the stadium, then a four through wide long-off for good measure.
He completed his fifty off 23 balls, the fastest ever in a T20 World Cup final. After he was dismissed, South Africa could not manage a single intentional boundary, the only four coming off Kagiso Rabada’s outside edge.
Jasprit Bumrah and Co. engineer jailbreak to give India 2nd WT20 trophy title
Klaasen brought up a 23-ball fifty with a single off Jasprit Bumrah, who came back into the attack a tad late, it seemed at that stage. India’s premier pacer gave away only four runs, but having crossed 150 and needing only 26 off 24, South Africa were in firm control. Pandya gave India the much-needed breakthrough, keeping it wide of Klaasen who edged the ball behind. Pandya also conceded only four runs, leaving South Africa needing 22 off the last three overs.
Jasprit Bumrah bowled the 18th over and built the pressure on South Africa by conceding only two runs and bagging the wicket of Marco Jansen with an incoming delivery to strike timber. Keshav Maharaj was on strike at the start of the 19th over and played two dot deliveries off Arshdeep before taking a single.
A couple and a single for Miller, followed by the dot to Maharaj, led South Africa needing 16 off the last over. Pandya bowled a low and wide full toss to Miller, who could only hit the ball as far as long-off where Suryakumar Yadav did well to keep the ball in play as he crossed the fence, got back into the field, and caught the ball.
Kagiso Rabada edged one behind for a four, bringing the equation down to 12 off 4. A bye and a leg-bye followed before Pandya bowled a wide. With nine needed off the last two balls, Rabada was dismissed trying to go over long off and Anrich Nortje managed just a single as India pulled off a jailbreak to lift the T20 World Cup title for the second time.
With five overs to go, South Africa were rampant. Heinrich Klaasen, one of the great hitters in the game, threatening to throw off decades of painful big-match history for his team with a hail of sixes. He and David Miller had clubbed 38 runs off the two previous overs, and with six wickets in hand South Africa needed only a run-a-ball off the last 30 balls.
Rohit Sharma was forced to go to the best bowler in the world, when he would have otherwise saved Bumrah for later overs. Bumrah didn’t quite break the partnership, the batters never daring to take him on. But he did break Klaasen and Miller’s stride. They scrambled only four runs off that over.
But the most telling blow, came at the start of the 17th over. After the flow of the game was further slowed due to an apparent knee complaint for Rishabh Pant, Hardik bowled a wide line outside off and took the edge of Klaasen, Pant snaffling the chance gleefully. Still, Miller was there, though he couldn’t get a boundary away off the rest of that over.
Then Jasprit Bumrah came back, bowled several ripsnorters in the last over of yet another tournament he has dominated. With one of those magic balls, a wicked in-seamer, he burst through the defenses of the last recognized South Africa batter, Marco Jansen, and grazed leg stump.
With Keshav Maharaj now in the middle, their batting line-up notably short, and 20 needed off 12 balls, South Africa were for the first time since the early overs of the chase in trouble. Arshdeep Singh delivered a nerveless 19th over, off which South Africa could muster only four.
The dream-killing blow came next. With 16 needed off the final over, bowled by Hardik. Miller tried to lift the first ball, a wide full toss, over the straight boundary. But he didn’t connect perfectly, and Suryakumar, running full tilt along the rope, his feet only centimeters inside, caught the ball, popped it up as he briefly stepped over the boundary, then completed the running catch as he hopped back into the field, sparking wild jubilation in the stands, and ecstatic celebrations from the India players.
South Africa batters No. 8, 9, and 10, did not manage to get Hardik away, aside from a single outside edge that flew for four. When Hardik India completed the seven-run win, the bowler sank to his knees in relief, his team-mates exulted, and the crowd, largely supporting India, flew into euphoria. Their team had become World Champions again, after 13 years.
Presentations and India are the Champions!!!!
Aiden Markram the loosing skipper said : Gutted for the time being. It’ll take some time for us to have a really good reflection on a really good campaign the group had. Obviously for the time being, like I mentioned, it hurts quite a bit. Having said that, I’m incredibly proud of this group of players and everyone involved with the team.
I feel they bowled well (SA bowlers). Don’t think there was a whole lot to work with with regards to the pitch. Thought they did well to restrict them to what we thought was a chaseable total. Thought we batted really well as well, and it came down to the wire. Really good game of cricket.
We’ve seen with a lot of our games in this campaign – it’s never over till the last ball is bowled. We never got comfortable, there’s always an element of scoreboard pressure. And especially at the back end, things happen quite quickly and can turn quite quickly as well. Having said that, we got into a great position which proves we’re worthy finalists. Could’ve won the game today. Unfortunately we didn’t. Still, like I mentioned, incredibly proud of the group.
Hopefully in a really good way (how does this set them up for the future?). One thing guaranteed about a South African wherever they are in the world is they’re a really competitive person, really respectful person and a person that’ll go down with a fight. Hopefully looking forward we can draw a lot from those few things and keep putting the skill side of the sport to good use. It’s still a proud moment for us.
Rohit Sharma the winning skipper said : Very hard to sum up what we have been through for the last 3-4 years. To be honest, we worked very hard as individuals and as a team a team, lot has gone on behind the scenes for us to be here today and win this game.
It is not what we did today, it is what we have been doing for the last 3-4 years. That’s the the result that has come for us today. We have played lots of high pressure games in the past as well and have been on the wrong side as well.
But the guys understand what needs to be done. Today was the perfect example of when the back is against the wall, what is required. We stuck together as a team and the guys, all of us, even when at one point it was looking South Africa’s way. Overall, as a team, as a group on the field, we wanted this really bad. We wanted to win this. To win a tournament like this, a lot goes behind the scenes, a lot of effort, a lot of minds need to come together.
I am very proud of this bunch of boys I have and the management as well for giving us that liberty to go and play, to execute, for having that trust in each one of us. That has to start from the management, coach, captain and then the players go out there and do it.
Throughout the tournament, I think we were fantastic. Not me and nobody was in doubt with Virat’s form. We know the quality he has, he’s been on top of his game for 15 years, come the occasion the big players will stand up.
Virat was holding that one end which was very crucial for us and the others played around him. For us to get to that total, it was a team effort. We wanted someone to bat as long as possible. These are not wickets where you can come and bat freely and keep the scoreboard ticking straightaway, so we do understand that. We wanted somebody to bat as long as possible and Virat did that perfectly. That’s where the experience of Virat comes through.
The other guys around played really well, Axar’s knock of 47 was very crucial as well. (On Bumrah) I can understand you guys trying to put it into words but I’ve been someone who has seen him for so many years, even playing alongside him, but even I don’t what exactly is with him. I know exactly what he brings to the table but how he does that, it is just a masterclass. He backs his skills which is more than enough and he is a very confident lad.
Whatever he wants to do, he executes to perfection which is a very rare sight. Jasprit Bumrah, to put it in one word, he’s a class act. Hardik was brilliant as well, bowling that last over, no matter how many runs is required, to bowl that last over, I am very proud of the boys.
Absolutely fantastic, all the way from New York to Barbados, I just want to salute them, to come and support us the way they have and even back home in India, millions are sitting and watching, it’s late night in India, I’m pretty sure they are up watching this. They have been waiting a long time, just like us. This is for them. Very very proud of what we have achieved today.
Virat Kohli Player of the Match for his 76 stellar runs said : This was my last T20 World Cup, this is exactly what we wanted to achieve. One day you feel like you can’t get a run and this happens, God is great. Just the occasion, now or never kind of situation. This was my last T20 game playing for India. We wanted to lift that cup. [if he is confirming if this was his last T20I] Yes I have, this was an open secret.
Wasn’t something that I was not going to announce even if we had lost. Time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward and do wonders as we have seen them do in the IPL. I have no doubts that they will keep the flag waving high and take this team further from here now. It’s been a long wait for us just waiting to win an ICC tournament.
It’s not just me alone. You look at someone like Rohit, he’s played 9 T20 World Cups and this is my sixth. He deserves it as much as anyone else in the squad.
Just happy we were able to get the job done and really it’s hard to explain the emotions I felt after the game. I knew what kind of mindset I was in. I wasn’t very confident in the last few games. I wasn’t feeling really good out there. But when God has to bless you with something he shows in ways that you can’t imagine and that’s why I said I’m grateful and humbled right now and I bow my head.
It’s been difficult and hence the emotions of the game went as well and the way we came back and the kind of character the guys showed it’s really difficult to hold things back. I think it’s going to sink in a little later, the emotions are going to come to the surface a little later more but it’s just an amazing day and I couldn’t be more thankful.
Jasprit Bumrah Player of the Tournament for his fantastic bowling said : Usually I’m the one who tries to keep my emotions in check and get the job done but today I don’t have many words, I don’t usually cry after a game but the emotions are taking over. We were in trouble but we’re really over the moon to win from that stage. My family is here, we came close last time and we got the job done, there’s no better feeling than to get your team through in a game like this.
It just felt good, tried to keep myself in a bubble and tried not to think too far ahead. When the big day comes, you have to do it, throughout the tournament I felt very clear. I always think about one ball and one over at a time, don’t think too far ahead.
Emotions can take over, it was taking over but you have to keep it in check but now that the game is over, it can come out and you can scream and shout. (When he was asked to bowl the 16th over) I saw the ball was a bit scuffed up and it would reverse a bit, thought which would be the most difficult shot for the batter and was able to execute it.
Rohit Sharma walks away from the crowd to have a moment with himself. He can’t hide his tears himself. A look towards the heavens as if to validate that there is a God after all. After multiple heartbreaks, multiple knockout eliminations, India’s cricketers can cry happy tears after all. A teardrop trickles down Virat Kohli’s eyes too, he’s chased after this trophy since 2009, and finally he can get his hands on it probably in the twilight of his T20I career.
‘Lehra Do’ blares through the loudspeakers as all these Indian players just take a moment to themselves and acknowledge what they have achieved. For a country crazy behind its cricket and emotional about their cricketers, the whole of India will be feeling just one emotion tonight – jubilation!!
So the Indian tricolor does get unfurled in Barbados. All that cautious optimism of Indian fans can turn into unbridled, berserk celebrations as the Men in Blue conquer the summit that Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and the rest set out to climb since 2013.
The downbeat of Dhaka in 2014, the Sydney stumble of 2015, the Wankhede woes of 2016, the Oval obstacle of 2017, the Manchester mess up of 2019, the Adelaide avalanche of 2022 and the Ahmedabad anomaly of 2023, all forgotten in a jiffy as Team India finally break a 11-year jinx to call themselves champions again!
A show of stellar dominance with a clear blueprint of intent, sprinkled with a selfless skipper and a talismanic bowling attack who can dig you out of hell or high water. Sometimes, all you can do as opponents is sit back, clap off the champions and say ‘Well deserved!’