After the heartbreak in Ahmedabad came a redemption song in the Caribbean, India holding their nerve at the end of a nail-biting final to send the agony in South Africa’s direction and claim the men’s T20 World Cup for the second time.
As Rohit Sharma’s men celebrated on the outfield, tricolor flags waving in the breeze after closing out a seven-run victory, the joy and the relief were palpable. Theirs had been a relatively frictionless unbeaten cruise to the final but then so was that ultimately thwarted 50-over World Cup campaign on home soil late last year.
This time there was no collective freeze in on the day, however, rather 11 cool heads at the end of what had been a pressure-cooker run chase. South Africa, having reached their first men’s global final with eight straight wins of their own, including a good few thrillers, will look back on this as the one that got away.
Set 177 to win after Virat Kohli’s 59-ball 76 had stitched India together in the first innings, the Proteas tipped into favourites status when Heinrich Klaasen monstered five sixes in a 27-ball 52 and left them needing 26 runs off the last four overs. But then came a vice-like squeeze that will go down in Indian cricket folklore, with Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh and the utterly masterly Jasprit Bumrah delivering for their captain.
Even when Klaasen fell to Pandya’s first ball of the 17th over, the trophy was in touching distance for the Proteas given the presence of the experienced David Miller at the other end. But after watching Bumrah rattle Marco Jansen’s stumps amid a sublime 18th over that cost two more, and then grafting only four from Arshdeep’s follow-up, the equation was suddenly a more daunting 16 off six.
In thundered Pandya for the denouement and Miller tried to drill him down the ground, only to see Suryakumar Yadav pull off a clutch catch in the deep, skipping in and out of the rope like a ballet dancer. These types of takes may have become de rigueur but, given the moment, it was breathtaking. It left Miller in tears at the end, forced to watch from the dugout as Pandya closed out his team’s victory.
“I’m proud of the boys,” said Sharma, after their first World Cup win since 2011 and a first in T20 cricket since the victory in 2007 that proved the catalyst for the Indian Premier League. “It was fantastic for the fans to support us through New York to Barbados. They have been waiting a long time, just like us.”
Sharma, needless to say, was thrilled for Kohli. With only 75 runs to his name going into the final, the former captain was central to a competitive 176 for six batting first. Racing out of the traps before throttling back after the fall of three powerplay wickets, Kohli calmly built towards a crescendo in which he cleared the ropes twice. “I’ve seen him play for so many years but even I don’t know how he does it,” said Sharma.
Both Sharma and Kohli announced their retirement from T20 internationals in the aftermath, the latter saying: “It was a now or never situation. This is my last T20 game playing for India, it’s the last World Cup I was going to play, so I wanted to make the most of it.”
Aiden Markram, the impressive South Africa captain who had taken their men’s side further than ever before, said: “It’s just gut-wrenching. That’s really what it is. Each player has been on a different individual journey. And when you get really close like that, especially the nature of how the game went, it obviously adds to the emotions.”
This final was akin to prizefighters trading blows, not least after Ravi Shastri had delivered his best Michael Buffer impression at the toss. South Africa showcased the dynamic fielding that has long underpinned their cricket, with Klaasen, who held two sparkling catches as India slumped to 34 for three, at the forefront.
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Though not the pin-drop 100,000-strong silence of last November, these were setbacks felt in the stands. Although the pick was probably when Quinton de Kock’s lasered throw from wicketkeeper ran out Axar Patel in the 14th over, displaying remarkable presence of mind in contrast to his slightly dozing mark.
Still, Patel had given India impetus by clearing the rope four times for a 31-ball 47 – including one mesmeric back-foot straight six off Kagiso Rabada – in a stand of 72 in 54 with the more circumspect by Kohli. It also rewarded a shrewd move by Rahul Dravid to promote the left-hander in his final match as India head coach.
With Shivam Dube adding 27 in 16 balls and Kohli eventually blossoming at the back end by slotting 26 off his last 11 deliveries, South Africa needed to chase down the highest target set in a men’s T20 World Cup final. When the Proteas slipped to 12 for two in the third over, that felt unlikely.
This in part came down to the clear and obvious threat of Bumrah. His tournament of both wickets and asphyxiation had another entry for the highlights reel when Reeza Hendricks’s off-stump was rattled by a delivery that angled in and moved away. It was a ball that would probably have vaporised most right-handers.
South Africa fought back characterfully however, De Kock (39) finding two resolute partners in Tristan Stubbs (31) and Klaasen for stands of 36 and 45. Even when De Kock fell to Ashdeep – the left-armer finishing with two for 24 – Klaasen responded by moosing 24 off the 16th over from Patel.
But Sharma’s triumvirate of seamers – and Yadav’s dancing feet in the deep – were too good on the day, exorcising the demons of last year and, as their supremo Jay Shah had promised supporters in the aftermath, planting their flag in Barbados.