T20 WORLD CUP FINAL

T20 World Cup 9th Match - Final - India vs South Africa  

Venue: Kensington Oval, Barbados. Finally, after playing each of their last 4 matches on 4 different grounds, India return to familiar territory, having played at Bridgetown once before (in the Super Eights stage against Afghanistan). Curiously, the pitch played rather differently than that match, with the ball coming onto the bat and the spinners struggling to get any real purchase from the surface. The bounce was mostly true, and, while the pacers were able to extract some lateral movement and zip in the initial parts of both innings, the swing and seam died down quickly and the fast bowlers had to rely on clever variations and pinpoint accuracy to make an impact towards the middle and latter part of the innings. As it was a World Cup final, the fact that perhaps both sides did not necessarily make the best use of the favourable batting conditions is excusable; with nerves aplenty on both sides (with South Africa reaching their first final and India carrying the burden of expectations from a nation that had not tasted glory for 11 years) along with supreme bowling attacks that had dominated the tournament, the scores were slightly below par for a pitch this hard and true. While this could lead to a false impression that the surface was excessively challenging, batters from both sides managed to cash in at various points during the match. 

Match summary (quantitative):  

India - 176/7 (20) 

South Africa - 169/8 (20) 

Result: India won by 7 runs  

Match summary (qualitative): From the second Rohit and Virat walked out to bat, the notion that India would put up a meek, cowering performance batting first in a Tournament Final (ahem, November 19th) was dispelled. Kohli reignited his campaign in ferocious style, peeling off Marco Jansen’s for 3 successive, risk-averse boundaries indicating that his big match temperament had finally arrived at the biggest of all occasions. Rohit then targeted Maharaj next over, but after flying to a start of his own, picked out square leg with a hard-hit sweep. However, Pant fell in the same over and Surya was dismissed soon after, and India stumbled from 23-0 in 1.3 overs to 34-3 in 4.3 overs. Axar Patel was promoted up the order, but one had the feeling that the move should have been taken before exposing the prized scalp of Surya to the perils of the new ball. Encouraged by the steady presence of a rock solid Virat Kohli at the other end, Axar navigated the middle period of the innings with intent and confidence, taking calculated risks to make sure India never fell behind the eight-ball. Kohli clearly had a score in mind and he knew when he wanted to take off, so he did not take a single risk until that point in the innings, leaving Axar to do the heavy lifting. Then, a crucial error in the middle of the 14th over, which saw Virat turning his back on his partner and Axar lazily sauntering back to his crease, saw the back of Axar Patel to a direct hit at the non-striker’s end from Quinton de Kock. Shivam Dube walked in to partner Kohli, who was unfazed by what was happening at the other end and continued on his merry way. Soon, both batsmen started to open their shoulders and clear the ropes at regular intervals, accelerating India’s innings and boosting them towards a competitive total. Dube used his massive swinging arc and solid base to tonk Jansen over long-on, and he lived up to his spin-hitting reputation by blasting Shamsi flat and hard over deep mid-wicket in the next over. Kohli then powered up against Rabada and Jansen, playing the primary role in taking 16 and 17 off the 17th and 18th overs respectively. After he was dismissed, Dube made sure India got to a total of 176. While this was competitive and was runs on the board in a final, one had the feeling that, on a true batting pitch, India would have to bowl out of their skins to defend the total! 

But Jasprit Bumrah had the new ball in hand, and, when that is the case, defending any total is a very real possibility. He beat de Kock first ball and knocked over Reeza Hendricks on his third with a ball that EspnCricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary described as the “best ball ever bowled in a World Cup Final”. It is hard to disagree. Skipping in from over the wicket, Bumrah sent the ball searing down on a good length on middle stump at pace, and Hendricks desperately tried to defend it off the front foot. At the last moment, the ball whipped away wickedly, swinging and seaming away past his outside edge to clatter the off bail. There was absolutely nothing Hendricks could do against the late, late movement. Wicked stuff from Bumrah! 

In the next over, Arshdeep had Markram flashing at a ball angled away and snicking through to Pant, and India were on top! However, by the time the powerplay ended and the spinners came on, South Africa had the perfect pair of the in-form QdK and the spin-hitting Tristan Stubbs to face Kuldeep and Axar. In fact, perhaps no middle order in world cricket was more suited to tackling India’s spinners, and the South Africans took them apart with aplomb, dominating the middle overs. But just when it looked like South Africa were reaching the ascendancy, Axar Patel slid one past Stubbs on the sweep to hit his leg stump, and the game was perfectly poised with South Africa 70-3 in 8.4 overs. But in came Heinrich Klaasen and the game twisted once again. South Africa’s two best batters were at the crease and they were facing India’s weaker bowlers - Hardik and Jadeja. Both of them were carted to all parts and the spin of Kuldeep and Axar didn’t fare much better. With 76 needed off 48 balls, Rohit was forced to bring back a frontline bowler in Arshdeep, and he delivered with the wicket of QdK with a stroke of luck. Having swivel pulled a boundary to fine leg the ball before, Rohit popped a fielder in the deep there and de Kock deposited the ball straight down his throat in an action replay of the previous ball! On such innocuous moments do games turn; he was the man to take South Africa home that day, but alas, it was not to be for his team and his nation. 

But, once again, when it looked like India were clawing back, Miller and Klaasen dominated the 14th and 15th overs from Kuldeep and Axar with such conviction that it looked like the game was all but gone. Miller blasted Kuldeep over deep midwicket for a six, and, in the next over, Klaasen absolutely pillaged Axar for a whopping 24 runs, bringing the equation down to an extremely manageable 30 off 30 with 6 wickets in hand. The game was all but over. South Africa could rotate strike and hit the deep fielders with minimal risk and take their team home, and, with a premier T20 finisher in Miller at the crease, it was looking like all hope was lost for India. 

In an act of desperation, Rohit Sharma, and the nation he represented, tossed the ball to Jasprit Bumrah and prayed for some sort of magic and/or divine intervention. What occurred in the next 20 minutes proved that these prayers were answered - Jasprit Bumrah is god incarnate. With shoulders sagging, criticism whirring (Come on Rohit, you should have seen the future and brought Bumrah on an over earlier) and families all around the country speculating about which careers are over, Bumrah delivered a four-run over where each ball felt as though it was licked with flames. Hardik, perhaps inspired by his compatriot, delivered a first ball that Bumrah would have been proud of. A slow offcutter right on the wide line induced the false shot from Klaasen who mistook it as a ball which he could lever over cover, and the nick carried through to Rishabh. However, at this point it still looked like a consolation wicket, with a capable batter in Jansen walking to the crease. 

Ball after ball however, India fought back into the contest. As the distance between runs required and balls left grew, so did the nation’s hope of a miracle.South Africa were clearly nervous and India were executing their skills. And then Bumrah returned for one final gambit in this topsy turvy match. Yielding only 1 run in his first 3 balls, it was his fourth that brought the house down. Whirring in from over the wicket, he speared one through Jansen’s defense to clip leg stump and prise out a wicket on demand. The fact that he got inward seam in the 18th over is a testament to his skill and his calmness under pressure, and now the cat was truly among the pigeons, with South Africa’s long tail in.  

Arshdeep Singh then pinned Maharaj down to leave Hardik with 16 off the final over, which India would have taken 4 overs prior but was still very doable for SA with Miller at the crease. And, in the brief second where Hardik’s first delivery was heading towards Miller, it looked as though Hardik would succumb to the nerves. The ball had slipped out of his hands and reached Miller as a shin high full-toss with room, something that he would hit for six 99 times out of a 100. It looked as though he mishit this one slightly, but surely the wind would carry it over? The ball swirled in the air for eternity…before settling in Suryakumar Yadav’s outstretched hands way over the boundary rope. Like a trapeze artist in a circus, Surya skillfully juggled the ball and tossed it back into play, almost unbeknownst to the fact that he was in the most precarious position in the universe for those brief moments, and took what is potentially the greatest catch of all time. With Miller gone, Pandya had to simply execute the last 5 balls. 

And India had finally reached the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. 

Star performers: 

• Virat Kohli - 76 (59) 

• Axar Patel - 47 (31) & 1-49 

• Jasprit Bumrah - 2-18 

• Arshdeep Singh - 2-20 

• Hardik Pandya - 5* (2) & 3-20 

Notes on star performers: Virat Kohli took a few brief moments to himself before starting his innings, looking down on the ground on his haunches, a la Dinesh Karthik. No one will ever know what he was telling himself, but one could understand his need for space - the pressure on him was immense. He had struggled throughout India’s campaign and this was his last opportunity to deliver for the country in this World Cup (and, as we found out later, in this format). When he got up to face the first ball, the fire in his eyes was different. While he had ripped up his template to bat according to the team’s needs for all of the games so far (with little success), he resolved to bat in the way that propelled him to stratospheric heights as a limited-overs giant - bat long, bat big, don’t take risks until you are on top. And that’s what he did. He was gifted with 3 half-volleys in the first over, which he put away with style (through cover point, back past the bowler, and through mid-wicket), and then, with wickets falling from the other end, he bedded down. People criticise him for his strike rate (and I’m sure many were criticising him during this very innings), but, the truth remains that, despite modern cricket being a completely different game, the best method for tackling a fall of early wickets is establishing a partnership with singles and doubles. Axar Patel was an able ally, and Kohli got into his work. It is a skill to consistently manipulate the strike against seamers of the quality of Rabada and co. and on an occasion as big as this, but Kohli made it work. By the end of the innings, Kohli opened his stance to tackle the angle from Rabada and Jansen and cleared the long-on boundary twice to signal India’s final charge. He has used this blueprint in t20 cricket for years and it was fitting to see him employ it for one last time in this format! 
 
As discussed above, Axar Patel took calculated risks and showed his versatility as a batsman. Not to use a cliche, but he truly is like a swiss army knife in that he can be deployed in numerous situations. Much like how he dragged India out of troubled waters against Pakistan, he performed a similar role here. He has the technique against both spin and pace, coupled with a big hitting ability seen in the IPL where he plays for Delhi Capitals. He is finally finding his range after a 10 year career for India and looks to be a mainstay across formats in the future! With the ball, he also took the crucial wicket of Stubbs! 

 
Both Arshdeep and Bumrah were absolutely brilliant with the ball. To get Markram snicking behind and QdK with a clever trap in the middle overs highlights Arshdeep’s ability to perform consistently in big games; in the eyes of this writer, he is definitely a bolter for the squad going to Australia for the BGT later this year! And with regards to Bumrah…there really isn’t much else to be said. 

After getting pumped out of the attack by Klaasen, Pandya came back under severe pressure to secure a victory for India, bowling 2 out of the crucial final 5 overs. He showed his adaptability by switching up his usual game plan from the short stuff to slower offcutters, using this delivery to dismiss Klaasen, and his final over was perfectly executed for the most part, where he got Rabada splicing another catch to Surya and of course the wicket of David Miller that all but sealed the chase.