T20WC24: Kohli, Suryakumar, Proteas give inspired India 2nd T20 title

They choked! Again! At the last hurdle, just at the wrong time!

On cue, struggling star batsman Virat Kohli returned to form to help 2007 champions India beat South Africa by seven runs at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.

The 76 carefully built by the former skipper (59 balls, 2×6, 6×4) pushed India to 176. The Proteas could only manage 169, although they needed just 28 off the last 24 balls with six wickets in hand!

Before the start of the match, the Indian skipper urged his team to remain calm and composed in their quest for a second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title.

“We were very calm as a team,” he said after the resounding 68-run semi-final win over England in Guyana. “We understand the situation (in the final) but for us it is important to stay calm.”

And while the middle order looked set to win their first title for Aidan Markram’s South Africa, unbeaten until today, they were repelled by the skill and composure of the Rohit Sharma’s calm team.

Suryakumar Yadav’s quick thinking, who made a magnificent catch on the touchline, also contributed to the failure. The loss of composure by the apparently overexcited South Africans probably disrupted their play because of the fear of winning.

Markram, who had made no public appeal for calm and composure, did not use the C-word. But he admitted that this was his team’s game to lose.

“We never felt comfortable,” Markram said. “Things happened quickly at the back, but we found ourselves in a great position to prove we deserved to be finalists.”

“I’m disappointed at the moment but incredibly proud… It was a total to make up for; we hit it well, we got to the end. I’m disappointed I didn’t cross the line. »

Sharma attributed his team’s success to “a lot of work behind the scenes, not what we did today.”

It was, he said, “a perfect example that guys understand when the pressure is on what needs to be done.”

At 34 for 3 in the fifth over, it was a big ask. Not for Kohli. As he often did on big occasions, King Kohli delivered.

“No one had any doubts about Virat’s form,” Sharma said after the match, “he is in the best form he has been in 15 years. When big events come, big players rise up. It was crucial to hold that position so that others could play around him… He did it perfectly.”

With India opting to bat, man of the match Kohli had already signalled his return to form with three blistering fours in the first over. But the early dismissals of Sharma and Pant, largely responsible for Thursday’s semi-final win, and then 360⁰-scorer Yadav, was warned.

With Axar Patel for company, Kohli managed to take out the tight bowling of the South Africans, encouraging Axar (47, 31b, 4×6, 1×4) to go bankrupt whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock ended this flourishing partnership with a moment of genius.

He ran to his left behind the stumps, quickly collected the ball and found Patel, more concerned with Kohli’s safety, just short with his direct hit to the bowler’s side. This took the score to 106 for 4 in the 14th over and could have forced an Indian adjustment. He does not have.

New drummer Shivam Dube (16b, 1×6, 3×4) hit Marco Jansen and Shamsi over and to the boundary and Kohli smashed a six and a four off Rabada. Seventy came off the remaining six and a half overs and 57 off the next five, when Kohli finally fell.

When South Africa struck, Heinrich Klaasen (52, 27b, 5×6, 2×4) and Tristan Stubbs (31, 21b, 1 x6) 3×4) won the game for India. And de Kock helped keep the pace going, reducing the deficit to 70 after Stubbs departed, beaten by Axar with just over 100 more needed for victory.

Klaasen was particularly harsh on the “arms throwers” (as Rohit described Axar (1/49) and Kuldeep Yadav (0/45) after the England match). But Rohit held back his quicks.

Bumrah had bowled Hendricks early and Arshdeep induced a Markram edge for Pant to make it 12 for 2. But the skipper held him back.

At 106 for 4, de Kock departed, Arshdeep causing the aerial pull which Kuldeep Yadav caught at long leg.

Rohit finally called on Hardik for the 17th over. The first ball went wide of a second set of stumps. Klaasen, whose concentration was perhaps broken by a long delay for Pant to draw attention to a weak knee, chased it down.

Pant did the rest, ending a fifth-wicket stand with David Miller worth 45 in just four overs.

Late, Rohit called Bumrah for his last over, the 18th over. He only conceded two points. And brought down Jansen with the fourth ball.

In the 19th over, Miller and Keshav Maharaj could only get four off Arshdeep. That left the Proteas needing 16 off the last over.

Going all out, Miller swung Hardik’s first ball into the sky from long distance. Running to his left just millimeters inside the boundary line, Sky latched onto the ball, tossed it into the air inside the cushions, landed outside, leapt into in the air and, after catching the ball in the air, landed safely inside the cushions. one more time.

It might have been a fitting end to a tournament that had provided satisfaction and thrills in abundance. But with eight runs left to score off the last two balls, Rabada also tried to get rid of Sky on the boundary.

He too failed. Sky happily swallowed his catch but didn’t choke.

The Proteas had done it.

Summary scores

Throw: India

India: 176 for 7 (20 overs) (Virat Kohli 76, Axar Patel 47, Shivam Dube 27; Keshav Maharaj 2/23Anrich Nortje 2/26)

South Africa: 169 for 8 (20 overs) (Heinrich Klaasen 52Quinton de Kock 39Tristan Stubbs 31David Miller 21; Hardik Pandya 3/20Jasprit Bumrah 2/18Arshdeep Singh 2/20)

Player of the match: Virat Kohli

Player of the Series: Jasprit Bumrah

Result:India win by 7 runs to claim their second ICC T20 World Cup title.