India vs South Africa final, T20 World Cup: Men in Blue, Proteas lock horns in a battle of equals

The ninth edition of the T20 World Cup couldn’t have had more fitting conclusion to what has been one of the most eventful multi-nation tournaments in the sport in a long time.

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The ICC made its biggest push into the American market yet and Associate nations such as the USA punched above its weight, stunning fancied teams such as former champions Pakistan. Also shining brighter than ever was Afghanistan, who had a fairytale run as they reached the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time ever on the back of victories against New Zealand and Australia.

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Let’s also not forget the valuable lesson that the 2024 T20 World Cup has taught fans, that in the era of slam-bang, fast-paced cricket, nothing thrills quite like low-scoring affairs on challenging pitches such as the ones that were served at New York’s temporary Nassau County Stadium.

One match is all that is left to bring the curtains down on the tournament, and it features the two standout teams who breezed into the title showdown unbeaten, at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday.

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India and South Africa had somewhat contrasting journeys into the semi-finals, with India pulling off comprehensive wins against every team except Pakistan and to some extent, USA. Had their final group fixture against Canada in Lauderhill not ended in a complete washout, the Men in Blue could have had a 100 per cent winning run in the tournament like their opponents on Saturday.

South Africa, meanwhile have won all of their matches in the tournament so far but none of their wins in the group stage as well as in the Super 8s looked outright convincing as some of India’s wins, especially in the second round. They had stuttered in their chase after bowling former champions and two-time runners-up Sri Lanka out for 77 in New York, and faced the prospect of a defeat at one point in their victories of Netherlands, Bangladesh and Nepal — whom they beat by a solitary run.

A battle of equals in Barbados

Both the Men in Blue as well as the Proteas, however, underlined their status as top contenders for the title with their comprehensive victories in the semi-finals.

The Proteas dished out another ruthless bowling display to dismantle Afghanistan in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago and bundle the Rashid Khan-led side out for just 56. And despite their poor record in World Cup semi-finals, the Aiden Markram-led side managed to overcome the early dismissal of Quinton de Kock to romp home to a nine-wicket win.

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India were just as ruthless, posting 171/7 on a challenging pitch in Guyana before their spinners and Jasprit Bumrah ran riot to bundle the Englishmen out for just 103, their title defence ending with a whimper.

Their performances in the semis highlighted the core reason why Saturday’s showdown at the iconic venue that had hosted the final of the 2007 ODI World Cup and the 2010 World T20 is expected to be every bit a cracker of a contest and one that could potentially be decided in a Super Over — which would be a first in the tournament’s history.

The two finalists, after all, are evenly matched in all three departments, which is what makes the match-ups for Saturday’s encounter so exciting.

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Both teams have an in-form opener (Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma) who has largely been responsible for guiding the team to rapid starts and will be seen as a crucial wicket in the powerplay, one that could have a big impact on the game. Their opening partners (Virat Kohli and Reeza Hendricks) though have largely underwhelmed throughout their respective campaigns which not only has been met with outrage from fans but has put the rest of the batting order under pressure.

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The middle-order of the two sides are also packed with match-winners who not only possess the ability to steer their side out of trouble but change the complexion of the innings in the blink of an eye and go on to finish the game from thereon. That includes seam-bowling all-rounder Shivam Dube, who has only shown glimpses of the explosive southpaw who had bossed the Afghan attack at home in January and was also in red-hot form for Chennai Super Kings in this year’s IPL.

Their bowling units too are near-comparable, with India holding the edge when it comes to the spin department and the Proteas with their pace battery. For every Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, there’s a Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj on the other side.

India possess a once-in-a-generation pacer in Jasprit Bumrah who will rank among the greatest all-formats bowlers of all time, and South Africa have an answer to that in Kagiso Rabada. Both attacks possess the left-arm seam variety too in Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen, one getting a more pronounced swing and the other using his height to his advantage in being a hit-the-deck bowler.

Both teams have fielded brilliantly as well, with Suryakumar Yadav effecting a brilliant run-out to dismiss Adil Rashid in the semi-final and the South Africans pulling off some otherworldly catches in the tournament.

Where the game could be decided on Saturday

With the two teams standing toe-to-toe ahead of the final showdown, the margins that will separate the winner from the loser are going to be razor-thin. On a wicket that is expected to be a better surface to bat on compared to what the Indians had faced in Guyana, the powerplay becomes more crucial than ever and anything below the range of 160-170 could prove fatal.

At the same time, the wicket is expected to assist the quicks more than the spinners which, together with possible gloomy conditions due to a forecast of rain on Saturday makes contributions from Bumrah and Arshdeep as well as South Africa’s pace trio of Rabada, Jansen and Anrich Nortje potentially game-changing.

There’s also the factor of big-match nerves that has plagued both India and South Africa — the former since 2013 and the latter since their readmission into the international arena in 1991. Both teams have found ways to lose crunch games that have ranged from heartbreaking to downright ridiculous.

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All the matchups and player battles aside, it is the team that is able to handle their nerves better while staying focused on the task at hand is the one that will ultimately fly out of the Caribbean with the trophy in their hands.

The upcoming match, after all, is being billed as the battle of the ‘Generational Chokers’ (SA) versus the ‘Chokers of the Decade’, with some memes describing the final as one where the “stoppable force” meets the “movable object”. And there’s a solid reason why those funny captions are doing the rounds in the first place.

It will also be quite an emotionally charged affair in Barbados on Saturday. The Indians will be hoping to give outgoing head coach Rahul Dravid the perfect farewell gift in his final game in charge, and Saturday’s clash might also be the last time fans get to witness Rohit and Kohli play a limited-overs World Cup together, and a final at that. The trio was left ashen-faced in Ahmedabad on 19 November but will hope to end the day with celebrations later on Saturday.

The Proteas, meanwhile, might have been pinching themselves after finally winning a World Cup semi-final on Thursday and will be hoping to shed the ‘chokers’ tag for good with a victory on Sunday. India, after all, have won an ODI and a T20 World Cup over the past two decades while the South Africans have nothing to show barring a Champions Trophy title along with Commonwealth Games gold.

For a team that has been consistently among the top sides since their return to the international fold in ’91, not reaching the final of a World Cup, let alone winning one, would have been considered downright criminal.

On Saturday, Markram and Co will hope to bury the ghosts of their heartbreaks at Edgbaston ’99, Auckland ’15 and Kolkata ’23 for good and finally win their first World Cup.

Team changes

Both Rohit and Dravid publicly backed Kohli and expected him to come good in the final. Ravindra Jadeja had been under a fair bit of pressure but managed to chip in with a cameo in the semi-final to justify his place in the squad.

As for the Proteas, their bowling department picks itself while the under-pressure Hendricks too managed to steer his team to victory with an unbeaten 29 to somewhat silence his critics for the time being.

So no changes for the team on either side, unless one of them pulls up injured on match day.

Likely XIs:

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