India and South Africa ready to end their wait for T20 World Cup final glory

Undefeated in almost a month of cricket in the United States and the Caribbean, India and South Africa will face off at the Kensington Oval on Saturday in the T20 World Cup final, with both looking to put end to long waits for glory.

A tournament that was mixed in terms of quality, entertainment and attendance, certainly managed to put on a final between the top two teams in the shortest format.

India crushed defending champions England by 68 runs in Guyana on Thursday, a day after South Africa beat Afghanistan by nine wickets in Trinidad to end a long and agonising wait for a title match.

It will be South Africa’s first senior men’s final since the inaugural Champions Trophy in Bangladesh in 1998, when the Proteas beat the West Indies in the title match.

Over the years they have been labelled a ‘choker’ by their critics and many have wondered how a nation that has produced so many talented players has failed to qualify for a final for 26 years.

Skipper Aiden Markram was part of the team Australia beat in last year’s ODI World Cup but says the players haven’t given much thought to the years of near misses and disappointments.

“We haven’t talked about it to be honest. I think it’s a personal and individual motivation to get to the final, to have the opportunity to hope to win the trophy,” he said after the victory against the Afghans.

“So you think back five months ago, we couldn’t get over the line in that semi-final and you look (here) some things went our way. We managed to win the game and we ended up in the final.”

There are certainly no signs that South Africa are lacking confidence in this tournament – they finished top of Group D with a 100% record, including wins against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Then in the Super Eights they won all three matches with victories against England and West Indies and USA.

– Belief –

“This team has been together for a long time now as a white-ball group, in both formats. We feel and believe that we can compete with the best in the world and that we can win trophies. And it’s nice for us to now have this opportunity,” Markram said.

“You still gain confidence by winning close games and potentially winning games that you thought you wouldn’t win. That does a lot for the dressing room and the atmosphere in the dressing room. So we’ll take a little bit of confidence from that and see if we can use that in the final,” he added.

India have the chance to banish the memory of their defeat against Australia in the 50-over World Cup final at home last year.

Although India is the epicenter of the T20 game, thanks to the highly successful Indian Premier League competition, its only triumph in this competition was 17 years ago.

India’s last trophy of any kind was the Champions Trophy in 2013.

But the team got the job done without much drama, beating arch-rivals Pakistan in New York and winning their group before a key win over Australia in the Super Eight.

“We were very calm,” captain Rohit Sharma said.

“We understand the occasion of the final. It’s important that we stay calm, because it helps you make good decisions. We were very stable, calm, and that was the key for us,” he said. he adds.

It was the Indian spinners who were the heroes against England, with left-handers Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel taking three wickets each.

But they also have one of the most effective fast bowlers in the format in Jasprit Bumrah.

Rohit, 37, and his compatriot Virat Kohli, 35, arrived at this tournament in search of glory in what could well be their last tournament.

While Rohit scored more runs, 248, than any player in the final, Kohli disappointed with just 75 runs in seven innings but has the perfect stage to render that form useless.

The historic home of West Indies cricket is expected to create a conducive atmosphere with a large contingent of Indian fans, as always, expected at the match.

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