India will be aiming to end an 11-year trophy drought in global cricket competitions when they take on South Africa in the T20 World Cup final.
Their opponents, historically characterised as ‘chokers’ in multiple limited-overs tournaments since their readmission to the global game in 1991, are chasing their first men’s World Cup title in any limited-overs format.
The final at Bridgetown, Barbados, on Saturday will feature the tournament’s two unbeaten teams which means that the winner, for the first time, will be able to boast an invincible T20 World Cup campaign.
An early wobble against Pakistan apart on a spicy pitch in New York, Rohit Sharma’s India have calmly seen off opposing teams with dominant performances – with bat and the ball – looking ever more convincing since switching to three spinners for the Super Eight stage in the Caribbean. Saturday will be their third T20 World Cup final and, should they win it, the first victory since 2007’s inaugural event despite 17 years of the IPL conquering the global game.
“We’ve been very calm as a team,” Sharma said. “We do understand the occasion [in the final] but for us, it’s important to keep calm and composed.”
Aiden Markram, who has managed to get over the penultimate hurdle that kept tripping up Kepler Wessels, Hansie Cronje, Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma et al, says his side have nothing to fear. “This is as tough as it gets really,” he said. “One more step, it’s an exciting challenge for us. We’ve never been there before but it’s nothing to be scared of. It’s an opportunity that we’ve never had and we’ll be really excited about it.Obviously there are external pressures but we’re trying to keep it simple and that should give us a good chance.”
Where is the 2024 T20 World Cup final?
The final will be held at Kenisngton Oval, Bridgetown Barbados, the second time the most famous ground in the Caribbean will have hosted a World T20 final following England’s victory there in 2010. The pitches, once the playground of great fast bowlers such as Wes Hall, Sir Garfield Sobers, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall and still the home of Kemar Roach and Jason Holder, tend to be slow, low and sticky.
Of the two, only India have played in Barbados before in this year’s tournament, beating Afghanistan by 47 runs in the Super Eights.
What time is the T20 World Cup final?
The match takes place on Saturday, June 29 and starts at 3.30pm. Should it rain, there is provision for an extra 190 minutes of play on Saturday and a reserve day on Sunday, June 30 if the match is washed out.
How to watch the T20 World Cup final on TV
In the UK the T20 World Cup is being shown exclusively live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event.
Ball-by-ball radio coverage is on BBC Test Match Special on Radio 5 Live Sports Extra or via the BBC Sounds app.
In India the tournament is being streamed free on Hotstar.
What are the finalists’ squads?
India
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed. Siraj.
South Africa
Aiden Markram (c), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs.
What is their head-to-head record?
Of 25 completed matches between the two in the T20 format, India have won 14 and lost 11. Six of those matches have been at the T20 World Cup, India winning four of them but South Africa did win the most recent, a group game at Perth in 2022.
What is the prize?
As well as the T20 World Cup, won by England in 2022, the record prize pool this year is £8.9 million of which the winners will take home £1.95 million.
via The Novum Times
The Novum Times 