New Delhi: An edge-of-the-seat climax. A brilliant catch on the boundary line under extreme pressure. An unplayable delivery by an unplayable bowler. Many jaw-dropping sixes. Twists and turns all through.

This T20 World Cup final in Barbados had everything befitting such an occasion. But to South Africa’s utter disbelief, it also had an inexplicable meltdown that can be termed as nothing but another choke. That ultimately decided the final as India snatched the proverbial victory from the jaws of defeat to win the 2024 T20 World Cup at Bridgetown, Barbados, ending a 11-year title drought in ICC events.

This is India’s second T20 World Cup title, having won the inaugural edition in 2007. As the winning captain, Rohit Sharma – he was in the triumphant 2007 side – joins Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni as the only ones to have led India to a World Cup win (ODIs and T20Is). Seven months after the heartbreak of defeat in the ODI World Cup final, this is a moment to cherish for India.

After scoring 176/7, India seemed down and out when a stunning assault by Heinrich Klaasen (52, 27b, 2x4, 5x6) left South Africa needing only 30 runs off the final five overs. But Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh bowled brilliantly in the back end to stretch the game and eventually seal a seven-run win.

Pandya played a key role with the ball. Off the first delivery of the 17th over, he dismissed the imperious Klaasen, producing an off-cutter wide of his hitting arc to induce an edge to Rishabh Pant. Only four runs off that over, followed by Bumrah and Arshdeep giving away six runs in the next two meant that the Proteas required 16 runs from the final over.

That is when Miller miscued a wide full toss by Pandya to Suryakumar Yadav at long-off. The ball was air borne for a long time, but Suryakumar kept his composure even as he stepped over the rope, throwing the ball back into the field of play and coming back to complete the catch, ensuring that his feet didn’t make contact with the boundary line while he held the ball. A teary-eyed Pandya and an emotional bunch of Indian players soon started their celebrations.

South Africa’s run chase began with Bumrah delivering a peach to Reeza Hendricks. The ball seemed to angle in at first, but with the seam perfectly canted towards first slip, it moved away to take out off-pole. South Africa were rocked further when skipper Aiden Markram nicked Arshdeep to Pant in the third over.

At 12/2, South Africa needed a substantial partnership between Quinton de Kock and Tristan Stubbs. They answered the call by adding 58 in 38 balls, finding the release shot in nearly every over and putting the Indian spinners under a fair bit of pressure.

Stubbs’s dismissal then came entirely against the run of play. Having just gone down on one knee and swept Axar Patel towards deep midwicket for four, he premeditated by moving outside off-stump and tried to sweep again, missing the line as the ball cannoned onto the stumps.

With the bat, Virat Kohli (76) and Axar Patel (47) delivered for India. Kohli was off the blocks with three fours in the opening over. Marco Jansen was to blame for the first two, a full ball with plenty of width outside off-stump followed by a half-volley on leg-stump. Kohli took the opportunities with glee. The final ball by Jansen gave Kohli his third four in a 15-run first over, this time just punching a length ball down the ground.

South Africa opted for spin early with Keshav Maharaj into the attack in the second over. Rohit went after him immediately, cutting and reverse sweeping through short third man for back-to-back boundaries. Two balls later, Rohit pulled out the conventional sweep, but couldn’t keep the ball down as Klaasen took a fine catch at square leg.

Pant also departed to Maharaj in the same over before Suryakumar Yadav’s dismissal reduced India to 34/3. With Kohli deciding to play anchor due to the early wickets, it was up to Axar, promoted to No.5, to help India amp up the scoring. He kicked into gear in the eighth over when he slog-swept Markram’s part-time off-spin for six over deep midwicket. The slog sweep served Axar well, smashing Maharaj towards the same region in the next over for another six.

Axar’s knock was pivotal in the circumstances. In the 72-run stand that he stitched with Kohli for the fourth wicket, he was clearly the dominant partner. He also slammed Tabraiz Shamsi for six, but the highlight was the shot against Rabada in the 14th over. The length was ideal for hitting down the ground and Axar held his pose magnificently as the ball soared into the stands over long-on.

Axar’s innings only came to an end because of a brilliant direct hit from de Kock that found the all-rounder short of the crease at the non-striker’s end. While the slight hesitation between the batters played a part, Axar was also lackadaisical in turning back and sprinting to the crease once it was clear that there was no run.

Dube took over the hitting duties from Axar and punished Jansen for a six over long-on off his third delivery. When Shamsi tossed the ball up, the left-hand batter clubbed it into the midwicket boundary with brute force.

Kohli, in contrast, was subdued through the middle phase — he went 37 balls without a boundary having hit a four in the fourth over. While the situation mandated his tempered approach to some extent, he struggled for timing on the few occasions that he was trying for the big shot.

He took 48 balls for his fifty as India reached 134/4 in 17 overs. That is when Kohli flicked on a switch, hitting Rabada high and handsome over long-on for his first six of the innings. Two balls later, Kohli added another four to his tally to end up with 16 runs in the over. That would have been still fine had Jansen not followed up by conceding 17 runs in his final over. India finished with 42 runs in the final three overs, setting the stage for a memorable day in the annals of Indian cricket.

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