For every November 19, 2023, there is June 24, 2024. For every November 10, 2022, there is a June 27, 2024. And now, for every heartbreak in the last 11 years, there will be June 29, 2024. The date will be earmarked in the history of Indian cricket as it ended their 11-year-long wait for an ICC title. India defeated South Africa by seven runs in a nail-biting final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday to be crowned the T20 champions of the world.
This tournament was all about making amends for India. They had already avenged the ODI World Cup final defeat by putting Australia on the brink in the Super Eight stage and then giving England a drubbing in the semi-final in reply to the pasting they had got in the last edition in Adelaide.
In the big final, in the battle of the unbeaten teams, or, in other words, of teams with zero titles to show for in the last 10 years, India prevailed. And they should thank Jasprit Bumrah, the man who can make the ball talk, for it. Boy oh boy, did he make it dance to his tunes when it mattered the most.
They should also thank Hardik Pandya for bowling the 17th over for just four runs, where he got the game-changing wicket of Heinrich Klaasen… and then defending 15 runs in the last over. He cried like a baby. He had gone through hell and back in the last few months. It was only fitting that Hardik was at the helm, giving it his all in the death overs. It was not the first time he was bowling the high-pressure last over. He had done it all against all odds in the 2016 World T20 against Bangladesh. But this was the final. And he did not put a foot wrong. He got a bit of help from Suryakumar Yadav, who probably took the catch of the tournament at the long-off boundary to send back David Miller, the last of the recognised South African batters in the first ball of the 20th.
Thank you notes must also be reserved for Arshdeep Singh for bowling the 19th over under immense pressure and giving away only four runs in front of Miller and Keshav Maharaj.
India were buried deep by Klaasen. The South African powerhouse smashed Axar Patel for 24 runs in the 15th over, bringing up the fastest-ever fifty in T20 World Cup finals off just 23 balls, and cutting the equation down to 30 runs off 30 balls.
How Bumrah swung the game in India’s favour
That is when a helpless Rohit Sharma turned to Bumrah. And he delivered. At first, a four-run over applied a break to the South African momentum. Then, in the 18th over, he hit Marco Jansen’s leg stump with a delivery that would have gotten an opener out on Day 1 of a Test match. Maharaj somehow kept out the last two balls, but Bumrah had done his job. His last over went for only two runs as he finished with staggering figures of 2/18. Hardik came and completed the formalities.
Electing to bat on a dry surface, India overcame a top-order meltdown to post a competitive 176/7. Virat Kohli (76) struck his first fifty of this World Cup and Axar Patel smashed 47 to power India to a healthy total. Their 72-run partnership for the fourth wicket brought India back in the game after they lost Rohit, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar inside the Powerplay.
Kohli slowed considerably, unable to hit a boundary for 35 balls. He finally broke the shackles with a beautiful swing over long-on off Kagiso Rabada in the 18th over. That was his first boundary since the fourth over of the match. He hit two fours and another six before getting holed out in the long-on fence. Anrich Nortje and Keshav Maharaj claimed two wickets apiece for South Africa.
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. Klaasen (52) then counter-attacked in spectacular fashion but India’s impeccable death-overs bowling restricted South Africa to 169/8.
