India Stuns South Africa By Winning T20 World Cup Title

History was made with India beating South Africa, and clinching their second ICC T20 World Cup title with a seven-run win at the at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday, June 29th, 2024.

Electing to bat on a dry surface, 2007 champions India overcame a top-order meltdown to post a competitive 176-7. South Africa got off to a fine start with three wickets within the Powerplay, including skipper Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav. Keshav Maharaj of South Africa struck twice with wickets of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant while Kagiso Rabada snapped up Suryakumar Yadav as India lost 3 wickets inside the powerplay.

India, however, made a recovery with Virat Kohli and Axar Patel putting up a 72-run stand for the fourth wicket – the highest by an Indian pair in a final.

Virat Kohli struck his first 50 of this World Cup and Axar Patel smashed 47 to power India to a healthy total. While Axar fell after a quickfire 47, Kohli struck a 48-ball half-century – the second-slowest among Indians – before finishing on 76. India, however, put up a competitive 176/7 total – the highest first-innings score in a final across nine editions. Anrich Nortje and Keshav Maharaj claimed two wickets apiece for South Africa.

Virat Kohli’s score of 76 made India reach the highest ever team total in the history of the T20 World Cup final. Shivam Dube supported him in the death, scoring 27 runs.

The Proteas suffered a top order collapse of their own, but Quinton de Kock (39) and Tristan Stubbs (31) put their chase back on track. Heinrich Klaasen (52) then counter-attacked in spectacular fashion but India’s impeccable death-overs bowling restricted South Africa to 169-8.

Indian bowlers, especially Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh kept calm in the end as India snatched victory from the jaws of defeat as they finally ended their 11-year ICC trophy drought and won the T20 World Cup for the second time in their history by beating South Africa by 7 runs.

South Africa’s chase stiffened at the loss of the fourth wicket in the chase at 106, but number five Heinrich Klaasen compiled a 23-ball half-century, the quickest in any final, to charge the team towards the target.

Pandya landed the decisive blow with the first delivery of the over, dismissing David Miller on the back of Suryakumar Yadav’s incredible catch at the long-off boundary. While Kagiso Rabada managed a four and a single off the next three deliveries, Hardik held his nerve and dismissed the left-hander off the penultimate to seal India’s epochal win in Bridgetown.

India marked a turnaround in the 17th over when Hardik Pandya snapped up Klaasen on 53, conceding only four runs. Jasprit Bumrah followed up with a spellbinding over, conceding only two runs while cleaning up Marco Jansen, leaving South Africa a 20-run deficit. Arshdeep Singh then delivered a spotless over, conceding four runs, leaving South Africa with 16 to get in the final over.

Last week India advanced to the final of the T20 World Cup with a crushing 68-run win over England in the second semifinal. England was bowled out for just 103 in its run chase of 172 after Indian captain Rohit Sharma starred with another half-century.

India skipper Rohit also became the first captain to win 50 men’s T20Is, appearing in his second T20 World Cup as the skipper of the side. Rohit had previously led India to the World Test Championship final and the ODI World Cup final in 2023, finishing runner-up behind Australia on both occasions.

This is India’s first title since their ICC Champions Trophy win in 2013 and their second T20 World Cup trophy since edging Pakistan by five runs in the inaugural final in Johannesburg in 2007. It is India’s second T20 title, having won the inaugural tournament in 2007, and first World Cup win in either format since the 2011 50-over competition. For South Africa it was a horrible defeat that brought back all of the pain of World Cups past.

“We play the sport for this, I am really over the moon,” said India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, adjudged player-of-the-tournament. “We’ve been working really hard towards this, no better feeling than that. We play sport for the big stages. On the big day, you have to give more.”