India ends 11-year wait for an ICC Trophy with a 7-run win against South Africa in the 2024 T20 World Cup Final

After going through pain and sadness for 11 years, India lifted the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup as the Men in Blue defeated South Africa by 7 runs on Saturday at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli gave a flying start to the Men in Blue stamping their intent from the first ball.

Kohli punished Marco Jansen early on for bowling a tad fuller than required with a cover drive that dashed to the fence to get off the mark followed by a second consecutive boundary courtesy of a flick. A classic straight drive from Kohli helped India procure 15 runs from the first over with three fours.

Rohit was the next to fire as Keshav Maharaj conceded two consecutive boundaries, the first one a bit streaky running off to third man while the second four was procured via a reverse-sweep shot. In a bid to go for another boundary, the Indian skipper perished as he swept the ball straight to Heinrich Klaasen at square leg.

Maharaj struck for the second time in the over as a full-toss from the left-arm orthodox spinner was miscued by Rishabh Pant and Quinton de Kock gobbled up the catch successfully to dismiss the wicket-keeper batter for a silver duck.

Kohli tried to rebuild the innings with Surykumar Yadav and even slapped the ball to the extra-cover region for his fourth boundary and first against Maharaj in the fourth over of the innings. In the next over, Kagiso Rabada removed Suryakumar who holed out while trying to pull the ball for a maximum but found Klaasen in the deep ending his innings early as well.

Axar Patel steadily started another rebuild of the innings along with Kohli and the all-rounder got off the mark by glancing the ball towards the mid-wicket region for his first boundary of the day. Axar then smacked two maximums, first against Aiden Markram and then against Maharaj to up the ante of the Indian innings.

After the drinks break, Axar resumed normalcy with another maximum down the wicket as Tabraiz Shamsi was sent down the ground and the ball flew past the long-on fielder for a flat six.

Axar started the 14th over bowled by Rabada with a massive maximum down the ground but was run out on the third ball of the over courtesy of a brilliant direct hit by de Kock at the bowler’s end ending the all-rounder’s innings at the score of 47 runs off 31 balls.

Shivam Dube arrived at No.6 and started with a maximum over the long-on region against Jansen who was re-introduced in the 15th over but the left-arm fast bowler bounced back by giving away only 4 runs in the next five deliveries.

Shamsi’s re-introduction allowed South Africa to sneak in another quiet over which included Dube’s first four of the innings followed by another boundary in the 17th over against Nortje after the fast bowler conceded only 4 runs in his first five deliveries.

After some slow overs, Kohli started the 18th over bowled by Rabada with a maximum over the long-on region and followed it with a pull shot that helped the ball dash to the fence behind backward square leg.

In the penultimate over, Jansen was invited back to complete his quote of overs, but he started off with a no-ball and bowled a dot ball on the free hit. The next ball from the Sunrisers Hyderabad fast bowler was a full-toss though and Kohli used his wrists wisely to send it towards the fence for four runs.

Kohli then rocketed the ball towards the cow corner with a 95-metre maximum and Jansen took revenge with Kohli’s wicket as Rabada completed a safe catch in the deep ending the former Indian skipper’s innings at a score of 76 runs off 59 balls. Hardik Pandya arrived at No.7 and got off the mark with a boundary courtesy of a top-edge that dashed off to the fence.

Nortje returned for the 20th over and was sent for a boundary on the third ball of the over but was dismissed on the next ball with David Miller completing the catch at long-on and Ravindra Jadeja also getting dismissed on the last ball of the innings as Maharaj completed a brilliant catch. The Men in Blue ended with a respectable total of 176 runs which turned out to be the highest score in an ICC T20 World Cup final.

Arshdeep Singh started well against Reeza Hendricks and did produce an outside edge of the right-hander’s bat but the ball bounced before entering Pant’s gloves behind the wicket. Hendricks procured the first boundary of the innings with a cut shot that dashed off to the fence.

Jasprit Bumrah was then handed the ball and the pace maestro did what he does best by castling the top of the off-stump and dismissing the Proteas’ opening batter. The South African captain then stepped in and got off the mark on the first ball with a perfectly executed boundary that ran off to the fence.

Arshdeep then came in for a second burst and took his 16th wicket of the ongoing campaign as a good-length delivery undid the Markram and the Proteas skipper was back in the camp courtesy of a good catch from Pant.

A streaky boundary from de Kock helped South Africa procure a boundary on the first ball of the fourth over which turned out to be economical. Axar was then handed the ball once again inside the powerplay overs and conceded two boundaries with the latter one flying towards the extra-cover region after meeting de Kock’s blade.

Kuldeep Yadav was the next one to be surprisingly handed the ball and the left-arm wrist-spinner ended up conceding 10 runs from his first over including a boundary on the last ball of the over.

Axar then returned for a second over and Stubbs freed his arms with a smash down the mid-wicket region for another boundary taking South Africa’s run rate above 7 for a short while before Kuldeep bowled another expensive over which included a straight drive from Stubbs that awarded him four runs while de Kock swept the ball over the mid-wicket region for a maximum on the last ball of the over.

Stubbs then started Axar’s third over on the trot with a maximum but the all-rounder took his revenge by targeting the stumps and cleaning them up ending his innings at a score of 31 runs.

Hardik was then introduced for the first time on the day as he started with three dot balls but conceded a maximum on the fourth ball before bowling a no-ball taking a toll of 10 runs in the 10th over.

After the drinks break, Ravindra Jadeja bowled an expensive first over followed by another expensive over from Kuldeep with Klaasen starting with a bang early on. Then, de Kock tried to attack Arshdeep in his third over but was caught at fine leg by Kuldeep ending his innings at a score of 39 runs off 31 balls.

Kuldeep then returned to complete his quota of four overs allowing David Miller to free his arms early in the innings by smashing a six and a four to end his spell with figures of 0/45.

Axar was the next to be targeted by Klaasen as he smashed two maximums and two boundaries. One of the sixes even reached a distance of 103 metres followed by a four and a double to decimate the Indian bowling attack ending Axar’s spell with figures of 1/49.

With 30 runs required off 30 balls, an inside edge off Miller’s blade almost cleaned the wickets but Bumrah continued to bowl economically in the 16th over and Hardik finally struck as he got the much-needed wicket of Klaasen from India’s perspective as the power-hitter was caught behind the wicket ending his innings at a score of 52 runs off 27 balls.

It left South Africa requiring 24 runs off the last 20 balls and Bumrah followed it up with a great over which included the precious wicket of Marco Jansen exposing the tail further as Keshav Maharaj tried to stop the assault from Bumrah on the last two balls of his spell leaving the Proteas needing 20 runs off 12 balls.

The penultimate over from Arshdeep was economical allowing Hardik with 16 runs to defend off the last over and he dismissed Miller courtesy of a world-class catch from Suryakumar on the boundary line. A streaky boundary from Rabada tilted the balance of the match to an extent but Rabada’s dismissal on the fifth ball of the last over sealed the match for India who sealed the T20 World Cup win after a duration of 17 years.