This was a fitting finale to the occasion. The only two unbeaten teams in the competition, going toe-to-toe with their sights firmly trained on the pot of gold at the end of the vibrant rainbow.
India had won all seven of their matches leading into the title round, only the lack of attention to detail denying them a perfect record after their first-round game against Canada in Lauderhill was abandoned due to an inept outfield, even though it hadn’t rained for 48 hours preceding the game.
South Africa boasted an all-win record from their eight fixtures. Where the spotlight had been trained on Rohit Sharma’s men, the Proteas quietly wended their way through the draw, almost unnoticed, despite their nine-wicket drubbing of Afghanistan in the first semifinal in Tarouba, when their gun-bowling attack fired their opponents out for a measly 76.
The final, at Bridgetown’s Kensington Oval, was a day game, like all of India’s outings had been primarily to cater to the primetime television audience in the cricket world’s most populous and frenzied nation. India were aspiring to join West Indies and England as the only nations to win the T20 World Cup for a second time, South Africa were desperate to add to their meagre ICC trophy collection with their triumph in the inaugural ICC KnockOut Trophy (as the Champions Trophy was then known) in Bangladesh in 1998, largely forgotten.
In their second ICC final in a little over seven months, India were determined to make amends for their heartbreaking loss in the title round of the 50-over World Cup in Ahmedabad the previous November. Rohit was driven more than others to ensure that for all their dominance of the white-ball landscape, India had meaningful silverware in their cabinet. The skipper had played the lead role in the conquest of Australia in their final Super Eights encounter in Gros Islet and in their subjugation of defending champions England in the semifinal in Providence. Both victories held a great deal of import; Australia had denied marauding India their shot at glory in Ahmedabad while England had crushed India in the semifinal of the previous T20 World Cup in 2022. But as monumental as those victories were, they counted for little in the final against the Proteas, themselves looking to carve their niche.
Rohit knew more than most that runs on the board in a knockout game counted for a lot, and especially against South Africa, who in the past had discovered ways to court disaster when victory appeared the much easier proposition. Armed with the knowledge that he had the expertise of Jasprit Bumrah and a three-pronged left-arm spin attack of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel to fall back on, Rohit had no hesitation in opting to bat on an historic June 29. As he had done throughout the tournament, he tried to be the early enforcer, but Keshav Maharaj, the wily left-arm spinner, threw a spanner in the works by dismissing the Mumbaikar for nine and Rishabh Pant without scoring to rock India at 23 for two after six overs.
Before the World Cup, to maximise his form and to open up exciting middle-order options, the leadership group of Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid decided to promote Virat Kohli as Rohit’s opening partner. The former captain hadn’t opened the batting internationally in the 20-over game for nearly seven years at that point and it showed as he managed just 75 runs in the seven innings leading into the final. But over the years, he had shown himself to be a big-stage virtuoso and it was no different this time around.
Suryakumar Yadav’s dismissal by Kagiso Rabada left India gasping at 34 for three inside the Powerplay when, in an inspired move, India pushed Axar up to No. 5, ahead of Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya and Jadeja. Axar made up for a go-slow Kohli, tonking four sixes on his way to a 31-ball 47 as he dominated a fourth-wicket alliance of 72 before being run out by the alacrity of wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.
Dube weighed in with a muscular 27 off 16, and Kohli belatedly found his range as India made their way to 176 for seven, just about par for the course on a good batting strip. Kohli had laboured to 50 off 48 deliveries until enforcing a dramatic upscaling of the gears, scoring 26 off his last 11 deliveries, though the lingering feeling was that he had left it too late.
South Africa were rocked immediately in their quest for a maiden World Cup crown when Bumrah cleaned up Reeza Hendricks in the second over, and Arshdeep Singh had skipper Aiden Markram caught behind in the next. But South Africa had massive firepower throughout the order. De Kock made 39 off 32 and Tristan Stubbs a furious 31 off 21 as the Proteas seemed to be running away with the game.
Throughout the tournament, Axar had showcased his utility with parsimonious left-arm spin, but he more than met his match in Heinrich Klaasen, the stumper who hammered two fours and two sixes in a 24-run 15th over that brought the equation down to 30 off 30 deliveries with six wickets standing. India’s fans – and the players, one suspects – reconciled to a second heartbreak in a World Cup final in seven months when Rohit brought Bumrah back, and the genius responded with a four-run 16th over.
Pant needed prolonged attention for an imaginary knee injury before the start of the 17th; the break disrupted Klaasen’s concentration as he edged a wide, slower first ball from Pandya to Pant. Suddenly, India grew fangs. Bumrah bowled a magical 18th where he went for just two and evicted Marco Jansen with a peach, and Arshdeep responded with a wonderful penultimate over that only went for four, leaving South Africa needing an improbable 16 off 6 balls. How the tide had turned.
Rohit turned to Pandya for the final over. The first ball was a low full toss outside off that David Miller struck cleanly. Only, he hadn’t bargained for Suryakumar’s luminescence. The skipper-in-waiting ran 15 yards to his left, caught the ball cleanly, tossed it up when he realised he was about to cross the rope, calmly stepped back in and held the simplest of chances. A moment of absolute clarity and level-headedness under extreme pressure. 16 from 5 proved beyond the reach of the tail as India sneaked home by seven runs in a veritable humdinger. In a game of the finest margins, India held their nerve as South Africa imploded, as if determined to live up to their unenviable tag of ‘chokers’.
Brief scores: India: 176/7 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 76, Axar Patel 47, Shivam Dube 27; Keshav Maharaj 2-23, Anrich Nortje 2-26) beat South Africa: 169/8 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 39, Tristan Stubbs 31, Heinrich Klaasen 52; Arshdeep Singh 2-20, Jasprit Bumrah 2-18, Hardik Pandya 3-20). Player of the match: Virat Kohli (India).