The most thrilling encounter of the T20 World Cup culminated in India’s stunning victory over South Africa in a thrilling final that summed up the entire tournament, which went back and forth like this until the very end. While India cemented their position as one of the true giants of the modern game with their immense talent and determination to win, the other teams also contributed immensely to make it an unforgettable tournament with their extremely high standard of cricket.
Here are some key moments from the past few weeks to remember:
1) America gave a shock to Pakistan
First-time hosts the USA, jointly hosting the tournament with the West Indies, created a stir when they defeated former champions Pakistan in a Super Over in Dallas in the first week of the tournament.
A boundary off the final ball of USA’s run-chase took the match into a Super Over and the tournament co-hosts won in one of the greatest upsets of all time at Grand Prairie Stadium.
2) India won against arch-rivals Pakistan on a difficult pitch
On a difficult New York pitch that was favouring fast bowlers, Pakistan captain Babar Azam invited India to bat first and the team was bowled out for 119 in 19 overs.
In reply, Pakistan were leading at one stage but as they do, Babar’s side hit the panic button in the face of Jasprit Bumrah’s incredible death bowling, losing the match by six runs to stand on the brink of a group stage exit after two successive defeats.
India captain Rohit Sharma should be given some credit for the win as he saved a few overs of Bumrah in the end which proved to be decisive.
3) India-USA group game
The debate over the poor pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York continued as Arshdeep Singh (4/9) bowled his best in T20 cricket to bowl out the USA for 110 in the match between India and USA.
While chasing the target, India faltered a bit and lost the wickets of big batsmen like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant for just 39 runs.
But they overcame the worrying moments and completed the chase thanks to a well-crafted half-century from Suryakumar Yadav.
4) Afghanistan reached the semi-finals for the first time
Afghanistan made it to their first ever World Cup semi-final after beating Bangladesh by eight runs in a low-scoring encounter in St Vincent. But the highlight of their encouraging campaign was a sensational win over heavyweights Australia in their final Super Eights match.
If Rashid Khan was not there, Australia could have proved to be a tough challenge for other teams.
5) Rohit batted brilliantly against Australia
Indian Captain Rohit Sharma led from the front and attacked the Australian bowlers most brutally, scoring 92 runs in 41 balls which demoralized the rival team and India entered the semi-finals with a comfortable win.
After this defeat, Mitchell Marsh’s team had to depend on the result of the Afghanistan-Bangladesh match to move forward, which was not in their favor.
6) Afghanistan team all out for 56 runs against South Africa
In the semi-finals, Afghanistan crumbled for 56 against South Africa’s high-quality pace bowling, ending the legendary side’s journey in the tournament on a forgettable note.
7) Kuldeep-Axar pair troubled England
After Rohit Sharma once again batted brilliantly and Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya scored crucial runs, the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel troubled the English batsmen with their exceptional bowling to help India register a sensational win over the defending champions and enter their third ICC tournament final in the last 12 months.
7) Kohli finally manages to score runs
Coming into the final after a string of poor performances and questions being raised about his place in the playing XI, Virat Kohli found form when it was needed most – in a big final against a quality attack – and rescued his team from a precarious position, and kept them standing strong in the face of adversity.
His 76 off 59 balls laid the foundation for a score that proved enough for the Indian bowlers to defend and snatch the trophy from South Africa at the Kensington Oval.
8) Surya takes a brilliant catch
Kohli may have found great form in the big match, but if Suryakumar’s catch had not been there, India would not have become world champion for the second time in the shorter format.
With 16 needed off the final over, the dangerous David Miller hit a full-toss from Hardik Pandya wide but Suryakumar composed himself, grabbed the ball, left it just as the ball crossed the boundary and then came back to take a wonderful catch that will be talked about just like Kapil Dev’s brilliant catch in 1983 or Jonty Rhodes’ in 1996.
9) Kohli and Rohit retire from T20I
About an hour after this historic win, captain Rohit Sharma too announced his retirement from international T20 matches, joining his old teammate Virat Kohli. It was a most fitting end to two illustrious careers that had been running parallelly for the last 15 years.
It is not without reason that amid the euphoria of India’s title triumph, several pages were written in effusive tributes to the two all-time greats of the game.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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