After 54 matches across a month of non-stop white-ball cricket action, South Africa and India have emerged as sides that will face off in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup on Saturday afternoon.
The Kensington Oval in Barbados will play host to this grand spectacle, in which the Proteas will look to make history with a first-ever world title, while India have not lifted the trophy since the inaugural year of the competition, which was held in South Africa.
Match preview
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South Africans would have been waking up for their workday around the same time that Reeza Hendricks struck the winning runs against Afghanistan, which brought an end to the side's semi-final jinx, and kept the dream alive that the nation's cricket team could be the latest to add to their sporting triumphs in the last few years.
It took the Proteas seven consecutive heartbreaking World Cup semi-final defeats to find the perfect performance in Tarouba on Wednesday, overcoming Afghanistan, who had already defied the odds by sending Australia packing from the competition in the Super Eight to book their first-ever appearance in the last four of a World Cup competition.
After losing the toss, Aiden Markram's side were asked to bowl and they were on the front foot from the very first over, when Marco Jansen dismissed the tournament's top-scorer Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck, before clean-bowling Gulbadin Naib in his second over with just 16 runs on the board for the Blue Tigers.
However, it was not just Jansen that got the best from the surface which provided ample assistance for the bowlers, as Kagiso Rabada also bagged 2/14, Anrich Nortje took 2/7 in three overs and mystery spinner Tabraiz Shamsi mopped up the tail, finishing with 3/6 in 11 balls.
South Africa bowled their opponents out for 56 in 11.5 overs, which is now the lowest total by any team in a T20 World Cup semi-final. The victory also marked the Protea's eighth consecutive win in the shortest format - now the joint-longest winning streak for a team at the T20 World Cup, and the first time the side have ever won eight-in-a-row in T20Is, period.
When these two cricketing giants crossed paths at the 2022 edition of this tournament in Australia, the Proteas claimed a five-wicket victory. However, the Men in Blue have historically been the more successful in this fixture, winning 14 of the previous 26 matches, while South Africa have won 11 and one ended in a no result.
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Meanwhile, India reserved their most emphatic performance of the tournament for their semi-final showdown where they exacted their revenge on England, who beat them in the very same match in the last World Cup, thanks to a record-breaking partnership between captain Jos Buttler and Alex Hales.
However, this time around, it was the Indian skipper who played the starring role, as Rohit Sharma put together a match-winning innings despite the early loss of Virat Kohli and the in-form Rishabh Pant, who was dismissed caught-behind off Sam Curran's bowling for just four runs in the sixth over.
Joined by Suryakumar Yadav at the crease, the two posted a workmanlike 73-run partnership between them, before Sharma was bamboozled by a stunning googly from Adil Rashid, which saw him head back to the pavilion for 57 of 39 balls, while Yadav went shortly after with 47 from 36 balls.
Defending 171/7, the spin duo of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav did the damage, taking six wickets between them, while Jasprit Bumrah knocked over the dangerous Phil Salt and Jofra Archer late on to finish with 2/12 in 2.4 overs, as England were bowled out 68 runs short of the target.
India finished as runners-up in this competition in 2014 and in the ODI World Cup last year, but they have undoubtedly been the pick of the sides in the tournament to this point, and are the bookmakers' unanimous favourite to win the match and lift the title in Barbados on Saturday evening.
Team News
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In an interview last week, Rob Walter was questioned about the form of Reeza Hendricks, to which he responded by saying that the 34-year-old's best runs were yet to come, and the opener proved the head coach right in the last match.
South Africa will only hope that Quinton de Kock can find the form he showed at the top of the order in the Super Eight when he surged into the top 10 run-scorers in the competition with back-to-back half-centuries against the USA and England.
Given the Proteas' performance with the ball in the last match, it is likely that Markram will maintain the same lineup with two specialist spinners, which will leave no place for Ottneil Baartman in the starting 11.
Virat Kohli scored just nine runs in the last match and only 75 in the tournament, but you can never write off the two-time T20 World Cup top-scorer, who has a knack for turning up in the most important games for his country.
Arshdeep Singh ended with a rare wicketless spell in the last match and is now two scalps behind the tournament's leading bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi, who claimed the sole wicket of De Kock in the first semi-final.
India's lineup is likely to feature three spinners in Patel, Yadav and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, while Hardik Pandya is expected to round off the three pace options, alongside Bumrah and Singh.
South Africa squad: Aiden Markram (c), Ottneil 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
India squad: 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
Series so far
South Africa
Match One: South Africa won by 6 wickets
Sri Lanka 77 (19.1)
South Africa - 80/4 (16.2)
Match Two: South Africa won by 4 wickets
Netherlands - 103/9 (20)
South Africa - 106/6 (18.5)
Match Three: South Africa won by 4 runs
South Africa - 113/6 (20)
Bangladesh - 109/7 (20)
Match Four: South Africa won by 1 run
South Africa - 115/7 (20)
Nepal - 114/7 (20)
Match Five: South Africa won by 18 runs
South Africa: 194/4 (20)
USA - 176/6 (20)
Match Six: South Africa won by 7 runs
South Africa - 163/6 (20)
England - 156/6 (20)
Match Seven: South Africa won by 3 wickets (DLS method)
West Indies - 135/8 (20)
South Africa 124/7 (16.1)
Match Eight: South Africa won by 9 wickets
Afghanistan - 56 (11.5)
South Africa - 60/1 (8.5)
India
Match One: India won by 8 wickets
Ireland - 96 (16)
India - 97/2 (12.2)
Match Two: India won by 6 runs
India - 119 (19)
Pakistan - 113/7 (20)
Match Three: India won by 7 wickets
USA - 110/8 (20)
India - 111/3 (18.2)
Match Four: No Result
Match Five: India won by 47 runs
India - 181/8
Afghanistan - 134 (20)
Match Six: India won by 50 runs
India - 196/5 (20)
Bangladesh - 146/8 (20)
Match Seven: India won by 24 runs
India - 205/5 (20)
Australia - 181/7 (20)
Match Eight: India won by 68 runs
India - 171/7 (20)
England - 103 (16.4)
We say: South Africa to win
South African fans dare to dream of bringing an end to years of near-misses, while India followers from around the globe are preparing to see their heroes reclaim the top honour in the shortest format of white-ball cricket.
While India have been the better side in the tournament, South Africa have found a way to earn victories, often from very trying positions. In high-stakes matches like this, the underdog tag often helps take the pressure off the side wearing it, and we feel that could be the case for the Proteas in this one.
Devesh Jaganath
