India vs South Africa T20 World Cup Final: India's world title wait has come to an end. The Men in Blue beat South Africa in a thriller of a game to emerge as the champions. Rohit Sharma & Co. looked dead and buried at one stage with the Proteas needing 30 to win off 30 balls with 6 wickets in hand. India scored 176/7 in their 20 overs but the match still seemed to be slipping away.
Eventually Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh helped India make a comeback for the ages as they saw the back of Heinrich Klaasen and did not let the Proteas cross the line. In the end, South Africa needed 16 runs to win from 6 balls but India proved too good to win the match by 7 runs and lift their second T20 World Cup title.
Choosing to bat first Rohit Sharma and co faced struggles as the lost three early wickets and found themselves at 39-3 after 5 overs. However Axar Patel and Virat Kohli’s partnership, helped by Shivam Dube’s late flourish, took India to 176-7 in 20 overs. In reply, South Africa started shakily as Reeza Hendricks and captain Aiden Markram fell to Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh respectively in quick successions.
However, opener Quinton de Kock and Trustan Stubbs formed a good partnership and got South Africa back into the game. But Axar Patel got a crucial breakthrough in form of Tristan Stubbs and added intrigue to the game. Just when it felt that India had gotten their noses ahead of South Africa, Heinrich Klaasen unleashed an blitzkrieg attack on India bowlers and scoted a scintillating 23-ball fifty.
With South Africa needing just 24 off 22 balls, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah made an excellent comeback and helped India defeat SA by 7 runs, winning their second T20 World Cup and first ICC trophy in 11 years.