 "India vs South Africa, T20 World Cup final: How Men in Blue fared in past title clashes?")
India stormed into the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup with a clinical 68-run victory over England in the second semi-final in Guyana on Thursday.
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Rohit Sharma (53) dished out a second match-winning half-century in as many games with Suryakumar Yadav (47) and Hardik Pandya (23) also making valuable contributions as India posted a challenging 171/7 on the board after they were invited to bat by opposition skipper Jos Buttler.
The Englishmen however, collapsed like a house of cards after a promising start from skipper Buttler as spinners Axar Patel (3/23) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/19) grabbed three wickets each to help the Men in Blue bundle their opponents out for a meagre 103 and end their title defence in the process.
Read | Rohit’s leadership and Axar’s magic help India exact sweet revenge on England
This will be the third time India feature in the final of ICC’s showpiece event, as well as their first in a decade. And before the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team faces maiden finalists South Africa in the summit clash at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday, we take a look at how India fared in past finals:
Defeated Pakistan by 5 runs in Johannesburg, 2007
Just months after their disastrous first-round exits in the ODI World Cup in the Caribbean, both India and Pakistan would find themselves in the final of the inaugural T20 World Cup at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on 24 September, defeating Australia and New Zealand respectively.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsOpener Gautam Gambhir starred in the final with a knock of 75 off 54 balls as India posted 157/5 on the board, with current skipper Rohit chipping in with a valuable 30 off 16 balls. Pacer Umar Gul stood out with his figures of 3/28 from four overs.
The Pakistanis lost the wicket of Mohammad Hafeez in the very first over of their chase and would lose wickets at regular intervals thereafter. They appeared down and out at 77/6 following Shahid Afridi’s dismissal. Future captain Misbah-ul-Haq, however, ensured he not only took the game deep but nearly won it for Pakistan. Pakistan needed 13 to win from the final over and Misbah brought it down to 6 from four balls after smashing Joginder for a six.
Misbah, however, would perish while going for a glory shot in the third delivery, a scoop that sent the ball high in the air, resulting in a catch for S Sreesanth at short fine leg as Pakistan were bowled out for 152. Pacer Irfan Pathan was adjudged the Player of the Match for his figures of 3/16, while Afridi won the Player of the Tournament award.
Lost to Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in Dhaka, 2014
Seven years later, India stormed into the final of the fifth edition of the T20 World Cup unbeaten, much like they have done in this edition. And it was South Africa, the team India face in the final of this year’s T20 World Cup a little over 24 hours from now, whom they had beaten in the semi-finals to reach the summit clash for the second time. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, knocked West Indies out in the other semi-final to avenge their defeat at the hands of Daren Sammy’s men in the final of the 2012 edition on home soil.
Virat Kohli had helped India chase down a target of 173 against the Proteas in the semi-final with an unbeaten 72 off 44 balls and would top-score for India in the final as well, scoring 77 off 58 balls before getting run-out. India, however, ended up posting a sub-par total of 130/4 after being invited to bat by the Lankans with none of the other Indian batters scoring at a strike rate above 100 barring Rohit (29 off 26). Yuvraj Singh, India’s hero in their 2007 and 2011 T20 and ODI World Cup triumphs, had particularly come under a lot of criticism for his knock of 11 off 21 balls.
Read | Heartbreaks for India in ICC tournaments since 2013
Sri Lanka were off to a shaky start in their run chase losing Kusal Perera with just five on the board, and were still in a tricky position at 78/4 in the 13th over. Kumar Sangakkara, however, came to his team’s rescue and took them home with an unbeaten 52 off 35 balls, stitching an unbroken 56-run partnership with Thisara Perera (23 not out) as the Lankans won their first world title since the 1996 triumph under Arjuna Ranatunga’s leadership.
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