India lift T20 World Cup title, Virat Kohli delivers in final game

INDIA got their second International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty/20 World Cup trophy in dramatic fashion on June 29 when they got a nail-biting seven-run victory over South Africa at the Kensington Oval, Barbados in the 2024 finale.

Both teams took unbeaten runs to the final, but only one team could walk away with T20 World Cup honours.

Batting first, India got to a competitive score of 176 for seven, with superstar batsman Virat Kohli (76 off 59 balls) stepping up to the occasion after having an underpar tournament with the bat. Kohli came into the final with a top score of 37, but he anchored the innings beautifully after his team slipped to 34 for three in the fifth over. At the post-match presentation, Kohli announced it would be his last T20 international match for India.

"This was my last T20 World Cup. And this is exactly what we wanted to achieve," Kohli said.

"One day you feel like you can't get a run, and then you come out and things happen.

"I knew this was my last T20 game playing for India and it's the last World Cup I was going to play. We wanted to win an ICC tournament and we wanted to lift the cup. It was the occasion that helped me to put my head down and just respect the occasion, rather than trying to force things out there."

Kohli started his innings in ominous fashion as he cracked three boundaries off the first over of the match by the lanky Marco Jansen. He shared in a 72-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Axar Patel (47 from 31 balls) and he then put on 57 runs for the fifth wicket with Shivam Dube (27 off 16 balls) as India got a grandstand finish to their innings — scoring 58 runs off the last five overs.

In their pursuit of what would have been a record T20 World Cup final chase, South Africa appeared to be in large and in charge after 15 overs as they moved their score to 147 for four — leaving them with 30 to get off the last 30 balls. In the 15th over, the aggressive Heinrich Klaasen (52 off 27 balls) launched an assault on Axar Patel (one for 49) with two sixes and two fours in an over which cost India 24 runs.

The pendulum would swing critically in India's favour shortly after, though, as Klaasen was caught at the wicket by Rishabh Pant at the start of the 17th over after chasing a wide delivery from Hardik Pandya (three for 20). Just moments before, there was a short stoppage in play as Pant was treated for an apparent injury. The break worked in India's favour as the swashbuckling Klaasen was sent back to the pavilion.

The Proteas were 151 for five at the fall of Klaasen's wicket, and India applied further pressure when Player of the Tournament Jasprit Bumrah (two for 18) bowled Jansen (two) with a peach of an in-swinging delivery to leave the opposition on 156 for six in the 18th over.

The Proteas needed 21 runs off the last 14 balls at that stage, and after a brilliant penultimate over by Arshdeep Singh (two for 20), South Africa required 16 runs off the last over.

South Africa's hopes were pinned on David Miller (21 off 17 balls), but the left-hander was spectacularly caught on the long-off boundary by a juggling Suryakumar Yadav off the first ball of the final over by Pandya. Kagiso Rabada managed to edge the subsequent delivery for four, but Pandya and India held their nerves to get the win to add to their T20 World Cup title from 2007 — the first-ever staging of the tournament.

For South Africa, their wait for a World Cup title continues. So close, but yet so far.

Summarised Scores:

INDIA — 176/7 (Virat Kohli 76, Axar Patel 47, Shivam Dube 27; Keshav Maharaj 2/23, Anrich Nortje 2/26) vs SOUTH AFRICA — 169/8 (Heinrich Klaasen 52, Quinton de Kock 39, Tristan Stubbs 31; Hardik Pandya 3/20, Jasprit Bumrah 2/18). India won by 7 runs.