South Africa and India will face off in Barbados for the ultimate prize. / X/@T20WorldCup

South Africa organized the first T20 World Cup in 2007 but never made it to the final till the current or the ninth edition. The history of the T20 – the shortest version of the game – World Cup is dotted with amazing statistics. The ICC trophy awarded to the champion team of this 20-over each rivalry between bat and ball has been following an unusual trail. Though both England and West Indies have won the trophy twice, it has never stayed with any nation for two consecutive times. It has stayed in Asia for the longest as three South Asian nations – India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka – have won this coveted trophy once each.

There have been three occasions when the summit clash featured only Asian teams – in 2007 when India beat Pakistan by five runs for its maiden triumph followed by Pakistan defeating Sri Lanka in 2009 by eight wickets and in 2014 when Sri Lanka defeated India by six wickets. In the last edition in 2022, England played Pakistan in the final and won by five wickets for its second title success in the tournament.

When India takes on South Africa on June.29, it will be the sixth time that a South Asian team will feature in the final. In 2010 when West Indies played host to third edition, England and Australia played the first final without an Asian team. Subsequently, in 2016, when India organized the event, West Indies and England played the final. Five years later, when the competition returned to Asia and was held in UAE, Australia and New Zealand met in the final.

The million-dollar question on everybody’s mind is who will win the 2024 T20 World Cup? India or South Africa!

Organized for the first time by the United States and West Indies, this 55-match marquee event was not only new to the North American continent but also witnessed several stunning firsts. The foremost of these has been one of the co-hosts, USA, an associate member, stunning the regular member and more fancied Pakistan, in Group games by extending the contest to a Super Over.

Pakistan, winner of the second edition and a runner-up in the last (2022) edition could never recover from the initial shock and failed to progress even to the Super 8 round. It led to a lot of severe criticism at home and even the coach of the team had to admit that “it was not a team but a collection of individuals” led by one of the star contemporary batters Babar Azam.

Though many believed that cricket was new to the North American continent, they did not realize what the history of the game had to say. The history of Test cricket dates to 1877 when Australia played England, USA and Canada played an international 3-day game in 1844 in New York which they later won by 23 runs. This oldest rivalry was revived when the opening game of the tournament was played between two North American neighbors which the co-host US won in one of the tallest-scoring games. Canada batting first made 194 for five and the US responded by scoring 197 for three.

After the US recorded an upset win over Pakistan, Canada followed with an exciting win over Ireland by 12 runs. Canada made 137 for seven and restricted Ireland to 125 for seven in the stipulated 20 overs.

The most pleasant surprise of the Group matches was the qualification of the USA for the elite Super 8 group.

The group matches saw two of the former champions – Sri Lanka (winner of 2014) and Pakistan (winner of 2010) –  touching their nadir as they failed to progress to the Super 8.

India and South Africa emerged as the only unbeaten teams in the tournament till it reached its final round. India won seven of its eight games as the match against Canada was abandoned due to inclement weather. South Africa won all its eight matches though wins in two of these games came by the skin of the teeth. South Africa beat Nepal by a solitary run, perhaps the narrowest win ever recorded in the fiercest match where both the teams lost seven wickets and played full 20 overs each.

Going by the performance of various teams, India emerged as the most cohesive squad with both batters and bowlers putting up superlative performances. Though India’s star batter Virat Kohli failed to fire so far, he is known to rise when faced with bigger challenges. Well-wishers of Indian cricket hope he will be in his natural flow in the game against men from “Rainbow Nation”. After all, ‘Rainbow’ has a special attraction for ‘Blue’ and the Men in Blue would love to peak in the June.29 game.

Skipper Rohit Sharma has led by example. His 92 against Australia and 57 against England were innings of class. He has been ably supported by Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube besides wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. Indian pacers – Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah – have left an indelible mark on the teams they played against. Rest, Indian spinners – Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav – too, have their spells of brilliance that stood their team in hours of need. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja have also been chipping in with their all-round performances.

For South Africa, the batter to watch will be Quinton de Kock, skipper Aiden Markram and Reeza Hendriks besides bowlers Marco Jansen, Anrich Notje, Kesigo Rabada and Tabraiz Shamsi. They all have had a good tournament so far.

A lot will depend on the toss as Kensington Oval in Barbados is expected to produce an excellent battle between bat and ball.

Briefly:

India

• India beat England by 68 runs with 20 balls to spare.
• India beat Australia by 24 runs.
• India beat Bangladesh by 50 runs.
• India beat Afghanistan by 47 runs.
• India vs Canada: Match abandoned.
• India beat the USA by seven wickets with 10 balls to spare.
• India beat Pakistan by six runs; and
• India beat Ireland by eight wickets with 46 balls to spare.
• India’s highest scorer: Rohit Sharma 92, scored 248 runs in seven innings; He hit 15 sixes and 22 fours and made three 50s; Suryakumar Yadav 196 with two 50s.
• India’s best bowling: Arshdeep Singh four for nine; 15 wickets and Jasprit Bumrah 13 wickets in seven matches each.

South Africa

• South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets with 22 balls to spare.
• South Africa beat the Netherlands by 4 wickets with 7 balls to spare.
• South Africa beat Bangladesh by four runs.
• South Africa beat Nepal by 1 run.
• South Africa beat the USA by 18 runs.
• South Africa beat England by seven runs.
• South Africa beat West Indies by 3 wickets with 5 balls to spare.
• South Africa beat Afghanistan by nine wickets with 67 balls to spare.
• South Africa’s highest scorer: Quinton de Kock 204 runs with two 50s.
• South Africa’s best bowler: Anrich Nortje 13 wickets and best figures of 4 for seven.