India crowned T20 World Cup champion

India stunned South Africa to clinch their second ICC T20 World Cup title with a seven-run win at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.

The Men in Blue clinched their second T20 World Cup win with shattering the Proteas’ dreams of winning maiden title at the mega-tournament.

The Rohit Sharma-led side, who lost in the finals of the World Test Championship and the 50-overs home World Cup last year, managed to book South Africa at 169/8, defeating the Proteas by seven runs.

This was South Africa’s first senior men’s final since the inaugural Champions Trophy in Bangladesh in 1998, having lost seven semi-finals, including a gut-wrenching defeat against Australia in the 1999 World Cup.

Since entering World Cups in 1991, following the end of apartheid, South Africa had lost seven semi-finals in the two short formats.

Earlier, Star batter Virat Kohli’s 76 and a blistering knock by Axar Patel helped India to a commendable total of 176 against South Africa in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 final.

Put into bat first, India registered 176/7 on the board, courtesy of a crucial fourth-wicket partnership between Kohli and Patel.

The Rohit Sharma-led side made a dashing start as opener Kohli smashed multiple boundaries during the first two overs. But the second over went for South Africa as they took two important wickets.

Spinner Keshav Maharaj dismissed captain Rohit Sharma (9) and Rishabh Pant (0) in an eventful second over. Later, Suryakumar Yadav also fell cheaply, caught by Klaasen off Kagiso Rabada for 3 runs off 4 balls.

Nortje and Maharaj bagged two wickets each for South Africa while Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada chipped in with a wicket apiece.

Earlier, India have won the toss and opted to bat first against South Africa in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 final here at Kensington Oval on Saturday

Speaking at the toss, Indian captain Rohit Sharma stated he asked his team to stay calm while acknowledging South Africa’s dominant performance in the tournament.

“It’s just about understanding the individual role, keep calm, and play like it’s an international match against a top team. South Africa have played really good cricket in this tournament, we have played really good cricket too, two quality teams,” said Sharma.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram shared that he would have chosen to bat on this pitch. He further stated that his side would be aiming to be at their best and play without any pressure.

“At times probably were not at our best, but we’ve found a way to win. Today we’re striving for that perfect game, even if perfect is not attainable. It’s a fantastic opportunity, no pressure for us, we’ve never been in a final. You can’t win a trophy if you aren’t in the final,” said Markram.

PLAYING XIs

Both teams are unchanged for the T20 World Cup 2024 Final.

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi.