Photo Credit: BCCI
A magnificent all-round performance throughout the tournament saw a dominant and unbeaten Team India lift their second T20 World Cup title in Barbados.
The Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, was a sea of emotions as India scripted a stunning fightback to beat South Africa in a thrilling final. There was joy, tears, and euphoria as India held their nerve and edged South Africa by seven runs in a tightly-fought contest.
Virat Kohli led the way with the bat on the big stage with a brilliant 76(59) to help India post a competitive 176/7. Kohli was ably supported by Axar Patel (47 off 31) and Shivam Dube (27 off 16) with crucial contributions. Defending the target, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh provided the perfect start with early wickets of Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram, respectively. South Africa then clawed their way back into the match courtesy of Quinton de Kock, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller. With 26 needed off 24, Hardik Pandya, Bumrah and Arshdeep scripted a sensational comeback as Pandya defended 16 off the last over, which saw Suryakumar Yadav pull off a spectacular catch on the fence to dismiss Miller, to pull off a sensational win and give a perfect farewell gift to Head Coach Rahul Dravid. Kohli was named the Player of the Match, while Bumrah was named the Player of the Tournament for his splendid bowling right through the tournament, finishing as the joint-second highest wicket-taker with 15 wickets, with an excellent average and economy rate of 8.26 and 4.17, respectively.
India got into the groove early, right from the start and topped their group in the group stages with seven points. They won three of the four matches, with one match ending in a No Result, against Canada, due to a washout. The highlight of the group stage was their fighting win over Pakistan. The bowlers, led by Jasprit Bumrah (3/14) put on an impressive performance to defend 119 in New York as they restricted Pakistan to 113/7 and won the game by six runs. In the other group stage matches, they beat Ireland by eight wickets and the USA by seven wickets.
They continued the momentum in the Super Eights and registered comfortable victories over Afghanistan (by 47 runs), Bangladesh (by 50 runs) and Australia (by 24 runs). The highlight of the Super Eights was India’s win over Australia, where captain Rohit Sharma’s blistering counter-attacking 92 off 41 balls, Axar Patel’s magnificent match-turning one-handed catch on the fence to dismiss Mitchell Marsh, and some brilliant slog-overs bowling headlined India’s impressive win.
Team India carried forward their confidence in the semi-final and put on a brilliant all-round show to overpower England by 68 runs. Captain Rohit Sharma (57 off 39) and Suryakumar Yadav’s (47 off 36) vital 73-run stand helped India post 171/7. The spinners then led the bowling charge as Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav picked up three wickets each to bowl England out for 103 as India cruised into the final, where they beat South Africa to lift the trophy. It was a special campaign with a special team performance which brought a special win and plenty of joy and smiles to the nation and the fans.
