India 176 for 7 (Kohli 76, Axar 47, Maharaj 2-23, Nortje 2-26) vs. South Africa 169 for 8 (Klaasen 52, Bumrah 2-18, Arshdeep 2-20, Hardik 3-20) for seven runs
Rohit Sharma was forced to go to the best bowler in the world, where he would have saved Bumrah in the later overs. Bumrah never broke the partnership, the batsmen never dared to take him. But he broke the pace of Klaasen and Miller. They scored only four runs in that half.
But the most powerful blow, came at the start of the 17th over. After the pace of the game slowed again due to Rishabh Pant’s knee complaint, Hardik bowled a wide line outside off and took an edge from Klaasen, Pant took the chance with glee.
Still, Miller was there, even though he couldn’t cross the border on what was left.
After that Bumrah came back, bowled many ripsnorters in the last over of another tournament he has managed. With one of those magic balls, the mischievous leg-stumper, tore through the defense of South Africa’s last seen batsman, Marco Jansen, and grazed leg stump.
A dream-killing blow followed. 16 needed from the last over, bowled by Hardik. Miller tried to lift the first ball, a full toss wide, over the straight boundary. But he didn’t make the right connection, and Suryakumar, running at full tilt along the rope, his feet only inches inside, caught the ball, took it out as it crossed the boundary briefly, and completed the catch on the run as he bounced back to the ground. on the field, sparking cheers in the stands, and jubilant celebrations from the Indian players.
South Africa’s number 8, 9, and 10 batsmen could not get Hardik out, except for one outside edge that flew for 4.
When Hardik India completed the victory by seven runs, the bowler fell to his knees in relief, his teammates cheered, and the crowd, who supported India a lot, flew into euphoria. Their team had once again become world champions, after 13 years.
Bumrah’s final show shows
On a flat track in Barbados, Bumrah bowled two unplayable deliveries that brought him two wickets – both bowled. The first of these was the best. It was one of the best tournaments, and arguably one of the best finals ever. Aimed at Reeza Hendricks, it bounced and was seamed to hit high, hitting the outside edge of the batsman.
He conceded five runs in the first over, eight runs in the next (one of two boundaries from his bowling to come here – a completely uncontrolled delivery past deep third).
But those last two overs went a long way to decide the game. Four runs from the 16th over, after the 15th over 24 runs. Two runs off the 17th over. His stats were 2 for 18.
Arshdeep plays his role
Arshdeep Singh almost stood out, returning 2 for 20. His two powerful overs cost only eight, and he brought the crucial wicket of Aiden Markram, who made him a back-and-forth. In the middle overs, he dismissed Quinton de Kock, who was looking to up the tempo after he looked to bounce back from two early blows.
Then there was a good 19th over, where he bowled two balls to Miller but only conceded three of them, otherwise he kept Maharaj on strike.
This, after India’s spinners conceded 106 in their nine overs.
Klaasen made a full charge of six
Another highlight of the tournament was Klaasen hitting a wide, off Kuldeep Yadav over the cover boundary for a six, with minimal footwork. That was his third six (he had hit Hardik and Ravindra Jadeja with a rope earlier).
But it was against Axar Patel that he really rode South Africa instead. First ball in the 15th over, he hurtled down the back foot for four. Axar threw two balls in fear. Later, two big blows hit the ground – one of them hit the roof of the arena, then four to the wide area for good measure.
He completed his fifty in 23 balls, the fastest in a T20 World Cup final. After his dismissal, South Africa could not manage a single deliberate boundary, with only four coming off Kagiso Rabada’s outside edge.
Full report to follow
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf
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