World T20 League 2024

SA vs. IND, 55th Match, Final

Preview

India and South Africa are all set to cross swords in the Grand Finale of the World T20 League 2024. The game will be hosted at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday, June 29. 

The match holds historical significance as both the finalists are still unbeaten in this marquee event. While India will play their second T20 WC final after a long wait of 10 years, South Africa broke their semi-final jinx to qualify for their maiden WC final. 

The Proteas have faced 7 defeats in WC events since 1992. Ultimately, they shattered their mental shacks after defeating Afghanistan comfortably by 9 wickets in semi-final 1 of the World T20 League 2024 at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad. 

Aiden Markram and the boys still have a task left as they will face a high-flying India in the ultimate game of the tournament. The Men in Blue have won most of their matches comfortably in this edition of the WC T20. Rohit Sharma has led his side from the front, leading the run-scoring tally for Team India. The ‘Hitman’ has impressed with his aggressive intent and picture-perfect stroke play. 

Also, Rohit has become the most successful skipper in T20I history surpassing Pakistan’s Babar Azam. Team India looked at their best form when facing the Three Lions at Guyana, winning the semi-final 2 by 68 runs. The Indian spin duo of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav were the chief architects of the victory taking three wickets apiece. Also, worth mentioning is Jasprit Bumrah’s spectacular form as he picked the prized wicket of Phil Salt in the early part of the innings.

Although the Men in Blue has qualified for a WC final event for the third consecutive time and played several knockout matches in the past decade, they failed to get their hands on any of the coveted silverware since the Champions Trophy in 2013. 

Match Details

Match: World T20 League 2024, SA vs IND, 55th Match, Final

Date: Saturday, June 29, 2024

Time: 08:00 PM IST

Venue: Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Pitch and Weather Report

Kensington Oval has a pitch of balanced nature. Batters get good carry and bounce throughout their innings, allowing them to play their shots. Although being a batters' paradise, the pitch tends to slow down gradually as the match progresses. The spinners get good assistance under this condition. Seamers on the other hand will face difficulties in bowling as the track has minimum support for them.

The weather in Bridgetown will be mostly cloudy and humid during the match day. The temperature will range between 27 to 30 degrees Celsius with chances of rain during the match time. 

SA vs. IND Squads

SA: 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

IND: 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

SA vs. IND Probable Playing XIs

SA: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi

IND: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah

Player Battle

Quinton de Kock vs Jasprit Bumrah

These two players have faced each other on multiple occasions and will look forward to outsmarting each other when their sides clash in the finals on Saturday, June 29. Bumrah’s performance this season has been nothing short of perfection. He has picked 13 wickets with an impressive powerplay economy of 3.75. On the other side, the Proteas are worried about their batting performances and will look forward to their openers to get a blasting start. 

Rohit Sharma vs Marco Jansen

The Indian skipper is in tremendous form this season. He smashed 92 runs against Australia in the last Super8 match and 57 versus England in the Semi-Finals before cruising into the finale. Meanwhile, the SA speedster has taken six powerplay wickets in the World T20 League 2024 at an economy of 5.85. It is also worth mentioning that Jansen can trouble the Indian skipper as the former has fallen in the traps of left-arm pacers 10 times across 22 T20 occasions this year. 

Heinrich Klaasen vs Kuldeep Yadav

The left-arm chinaman spinner has been consistently disrupting batters in the middle order of the game. His most anticipated battle would be with Heinrich Klaasen, whose proficiency against spin is well known. Klaasen has a strike rate of 142.62 against spinners in this tournament and also carries a strike rate of 172.22 against Kuldeep Yadav in T20 cricket. The latter being in sublime form would be keen to weave strategies and dismiss him for the first time, also in the biggest cricketing event. 

Virat Kohli vs Kagiso Rabada

The Indian star batter Virat Kohli is on a poor run this season. He has only managed to score 75 runs in seven innings so far but is still trusted by the Indian management because of his previous heroics for the team on several occasions. The Indian Run machine would be eager to prove why he is considered the “Greatest Cricketer of the Generation.” However, to prove his dominance, he needs to shadow an in-form Kagiso Rabada who currently has 12 wickets in eight matches and will target the Indian opener at any cost. The Proteas ran over the whole Afghan team in the Semi-Finals and will look forward to repeating the same when they face the Men in Blue in the Finals. 

Match Prediction

This is tough to choose between the sides India and South Africa as both of them have shown enough dominant traits to reach the finals. The Proteas haven’t really found their rhythm in the batting side but have filled the gap with their deadly bowling abilities. On the other hand, India has an all-round squad on pen and paper, with most of their players in sublime form. 

When faced Head to Head against India, the Proteas side also has won three out of their last four T20I matches and will surely gain confidence from this fact. The Men in Blue on the other side, has ample WC final experience which gives them an edge over Markram and Co.

With an in-depth analysis, the Indian side looks to be more calm and composed. Also if their batters, particularly their openers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli deliver this time, their bowlers should gain confidence by that and should be able to handle any situation well. 

This will be a close contest and the game can go either way but we back Team India based on the all-round capabilities that they showcased throughout the tournament. 

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