(AP Photo)
India achieved a remarkable seven-run victory against South Africa in an intense T20 World Cup final on Saturday.
Former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn expressed his emotions, saying, “F**k this is tough. Heart breaking”
In their inaugural ICC tournament final, South Africa required 30 runs off 30 deliveries with Heinrich Klaasen’s aggressive 52 from 27 balls leading the charge.
However, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Hardik Pandya combined brilliantly in the closing overs, capturing seven wickets to restrict South Africa to 169-8.
Virat Kohli, scoring his first half-century of the tournament and announcing it as his final T20 international appearance, played a pivotal role as India reached 176-7 after captain Rohit Sharma opted to bat first.
“Guys understand when the pressure is on what needs to be done,” Sharma said. “Today was a perfect example, (we) stuck together with backs to the wall. We wanted this really bad … very proud of the bunch of boys and the management.”
India secured its second T20 World Cup victory, ending a 13-year wait for a global title. The team had been grappling with mounting frustrations, having lost the World Test Championship final and the agonizing 50-over World Cup final at home in the past year.
South Africa, too, carried a burden of disappointment, having reached the final unbeaten and appeared poised to break their World Cup drought. They accelerated to 147-4 in 15 overs, propelled by Heinrich Klaasen’s explosive over against left-arm spinner Axar Patel, yielding 24 runs.
However, Jasprit Bumrah tightened the screws, conceding just six runs in his next two overs, while Hardik Pandya crucially dismissed Klaasen. Despite David Miller’s contribution of 21 runs, left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh’s economical penultimate over, conceding only four runs, provided Pandya with a 16-run cushion to defend in the final over.
On the first ball of Pandya’s over, Suryakumar Yadav’s spectacular juggling catch at the long-off boundary dismissed Miller, sealing India’s victory.
“Gutted,” South Africa captain Aiden Markram said. “Hurts quite a bit, but incredibly proud. We never got comfortable, things happen quickly at the back end, but got into a great position to prove we were worthy finalists.”
