India vs South Africa T20 World Cup Final: India held their line & breath

First things first. South Africa did not choke.

In sport choking is the worst possible feeling. This is when a player or team has victory in grasp and then feels an almost visceral inability to take the final step. Think of a tennis player suddenly banging down double faults when she has been pinging aces all evening. Imagine the striker who has conjured the most magical goals stepping up to take a penalty and not even being on target.

This was where South Africa were at a key point in their first World Cup final, with only 30 needed from as many balls. In Twenty20 cricket, with batting to come, this is a walk in the park. But, India had other ideas.

Among those was Jasprit Bumrah, whose magnificence in returning figures of 4-0-18-2 cannot be understated. And then there was Hardik Pandya, brought into the attack almost as an afterthought by Rohit Sharma, among the most astute captains the game has ever seen. Without being as fierce as Bumrah, Pandya was as un-hittable, and he gave India three overs that yielded 20 runs and three wickets.


Pandya has not had it easy with a change of IPL teams, along with captaincy, not being straightforward. And yet, here he was, redeeming himself, bending his back and earning his keep as a bowling all-rounder. When Keshav Maharaj and Anrich Nortje were left last men standing, nine runs adrift of their target, you had to feel for a nation whose time as a cricketing champion beckoned. But, sport is as cruel as it rewarding.

South Africa had the game by the collar when India chose to bat first and lost Rohit, to a sweep that he could not keep down, Rishabh Pant to a toe-ended balloon to the wicketkeeper and Suryakumar Yadav to a whip to fineleg. At 34 for 3, India were out for the count.

But then Virat Kohli would not give up. Having scratched around all tournament for an average of a little over 10, he would not let the bowlers take the game away. Axar Patel batted as beautifully as you might expect, to get to 47 off 31 in a 72-run partnership that steadied the ship. When he was run out, through the brilliance of wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock gathering the ball and throwing down the stumps at the non-striker’s end, it was not clear who out of Kohli or Axar was more upset.

But, this helped the alpha male in Kohli to cool his jets and focus on the bigger picture. For a time it appeared as though Kohli had reverted to his 50-over self, looking for a run-a-ball pretty score. But the acceleration came immediately after his half-century, pushing him on to a 59-ball 76.

India’s total of 176 for 7 was a good one, but with the pitch playing true and South Africa batting deep the game was far from won. Even at 12 for 2 in the chase, with Reeza Hendricks and Aidan Markram gone, the going was not easy for Rohit’s team. De Kock and the immensely talented Tristan Stubbs had the game in hand, picking the bowlers off for relatively risk-free runs. But, South Africa are not best at navigating placid waters and allowed India back into the game through Axar and Arshdeep Singh.

Even a cracking half-century from Heinrich Klaasen at No 5 was not enough. The marauder of spin bowling only took 27 balls for 52, but India simply refused to let the game go. Rohit’s captaincy chops were tested as he rotated his bowlers and perhaps wished Bumrah could bowl five. But, when he looked around his field, he found resources he could use.

In the end, India’s relentlessness was just a bit much for South Africa. As hard as they had pushed with the ball, only to find someone hitting back, they were found short with the bat by bowlers who nailed the conditions and the situation.

This pill will be a bitter one for Markram’s men to swallow, because they came as close as they ever have to a world title. But, in time, they will have to admit that they were beaten by a better team.