India 176 for 7 (Kohli 76, Axar 47, Maharaj 2-23, Nortje 2-26) against South Africa 169 for 8 (Klaasen 52, Bumrah 2-18, Arshdeep 2-20, Hardik 3-20) by seven runs
Rohit Sharma was forced to go to the world’s best bowler, when he would have otherwise kept Bumrah for later overs. Bumrah didn’t completely break the partnership as the batters never dared to take on him. But he slowed down the pace of Klaasen and Miller. They only managed four points.
But the biggest blow came at the start of the 17th over. After the pace of play was further slowed due to an apparent knee injury to Rishabh Pant, Hardik bowled a wide line outside off and took Klaasen’s edge, with Pant happily grabbing the opportunity.
Yet Miller was there, even if he couldn’t push the limits away from the rest.
Then Bumrah came back, bowled several ripsnorter balls in the last over of another tournament which he dominated. With one of those magic balls, a wicked inside ball, he broke through the defenses of the last recognized South African batsman, Marco Jansen, and grazed the leg stump.
The fatal blow came next. With 16 runs left after the last over, bowled by Hardik, Miller tried to lift the first ball, a wide, full toss, over the right boundary. But he failed to hit it perfectly, and Suryakumar, running at full speed along the rope, his feet inches inside, caught the ball, tossed it into the air as he briefly crossed the boundary, then completed the catch by leaping onto the field, triggering wild jubilation in the stands and ecstatic celebrations from the Indian players.
South Africa’s batters No. 8, 9 and 10 failed to get Hardik out, barring a single outside edge that flew for four.
When Hardik India completed a seven-run victory, the bowler fell to his knees in relief, his teammates exulted and the crowd, largely supporting India, fell into euphoria. Their team had become world champions again after 13 years.
Bumrah’s spectacular finals
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 of the tournament, and arguably one of the best ever bowled in a final. Towards Reeza Hendricks, the ball was pitched and hit the top of the pitch, beating the batsman’s outside edge.
He conceded five runs in that first over, eight runs in the next (one of only two boundaries from his bowling came here – a not entirely controlled turn through third base).
But those last two overs went some way to defining this match. Four runs off the 16th over, after the 15th over had been bludgeoned for 24. Two runs off the 17th over. His figures were 2 off 18.
Arshdeep plays his role
Arshdeep Singh was almost as remarkable, taking 2 for 20. His two powerplay overs cost just eight runs and brought the important wicket of Aiden Markram, who edged him. In the middle overs, he dismissed Quinton de Kock, who was looking to pick up the pace after overseeing the recovery from two shots early in the match.
And then that fantastic 19th over, in which he bowled two balls to Miller but conceded only three, otherwise keeping Maharaj on strike.
This, after the Indian spinners had leaked 106 from their collective nine overs.
Klaasen makes a six-man charge
One of the best hits of the tournament was Klaasen’s who slammed a wide Kuldeep Yadav over the cover boundary for six, with minimal movement of the foot. It was his third six (he had hit Hardik and Ravindra Jadeja over the rope earlier).
But it was against Axar Patel that he really propelled South Africa to the ascendancy. First ball of the 15th over, he bullied the ground off the back foot for four. Axar played two wides for fear. Then later, two massive hits to the ground – one of which hit the roof of the stadium, then a four wide for good measure.
He completed his fifty off 23 balls, the fastest ever in a T20 World Cup final. After his dismissal, South Africa failed to manage a single intentional boundary, with the only four coming outside Kagiso Rabada.
Kohli drops anchor
Between the fourth and 18th over, Kohli faced 35 balls in which he scored 29 and hit no boundaries. When he got to fifty, he had used 48 deliveries and had not lifted his bat, having batted most of that time in ODI middle-order mode. There was an obvious criticism to be made here: was this an innings so unambitious that it actually hurt India?
But the counterargument is strong. Kohli was 22 off 16 when the third wicket (Suryakumar Yadav) fell, in the fifth over. And the security he gave on one end allowed Axar (pushed the No. 5 order) and Shivam Dube to thrive with their big hitters.
His knocks with these batsmen were 72 off 54 (Axar hit 47 off 31) and 57 off 33 (Dube hit 22 off 13), and formed the weight of India’s innings. Their 176 for 7 was the most runs scored by a team in a World Cup final.
Has South Africa Choked?
For the 35 overs of this match, it was impossible to come to that conclusion. They were fired up from the first overs, when Keshav Maharaj struck twice and Rabada removed Suryakumar, India’s most dangerous batsman. They held their catches and were excellent in the outfield.
They also coped well with the loss of early wickets. But at one stage, they needed 26 off 24 balls, had six wickets in hand and only one over from Bumrah was left to face. They tried to target Hardik, which was the smart play in that situation, but lost both their key batters to him.
There are also simpler explanations: India was seasoned and skilled; South Africa’s batting line-up was small.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a Senior Writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf