The Well-deserved Victory -- T 20 Champions India --Long Coming

 

 

The two finalists had a very different path getting in the finals

South Africa

They  struggled , narrow victories but they got there with a clean slate. However they had one tag to defend – they were the team “ that never crosses fhe final hurdle “  -- In the semis , they just ran over the Afgans who did incredibly well to get to the semis. SA  was a balanced side and except their captain everyone was contributing.

India

They  went in to the finals without any defeat – They were mostly unchallenged and except for brief periods against the Aussies and the English , they were in command . One worry was  from the last final ( ODI World cup finals )—they came in undefeated but lost steam in the finals –Again a balanced side and they has three left arm spinners who used the  conditions in US and the West Indies extremely final . They loved batting first , setting up a target and defending it successfully.  Everyone was contributing – may be Virat was the odd one to miss out till the final

The final

What a toss to win – India wanted to bat first and so they did. They were  pinned on the mat and by end of Power Play they were struggling – However , Virat came good—patient and building an innings , he had a great ” back on track “partnership with Axar – Axar reveled the challenge and as India was trying to push the needle , Axar got run out. Kohli continued. Dubey came in to some hitting form and India ended with 176  in 20 overs  and that was a score that has never been chased in any World Cup T20 Final . So they held advatnge ?  Not sure

The chase

SA chase did not start well . Bumrah produced a magic delivery to clean up Hendricks and Makram got out early true to his form . But Stubbs and Quinton attacked and got them going.

To me there were three big factors that led to the result of India winning. First Stubbs who was playing so well , went right across the stumps to swing Axar and was castled .There was no need to play this shot . totally silly .

 Second – Quinton Dekock after seeing a fielder being placed at long leg , hooked the next delivery straight in to the fielders hands. Again Quinton was largely untroubled during his innings.

The third and most impactful one– Henrich Klassen who laid the Indian spinners to the sword with some brilliant  powerful stroke play, played a causal drive on a slower wide ball from Hardik and snicked to Pant.   This was the invitation India needed to get back in to the match and how well they did.

 At this point SA needed 30 from 30 balls and in T20 terms , this was a walk in the Park situation .The wicket  of Klassend and sensational bowling by Bumrah , Arshadeep and Hardik brought India right back. Bumrah was just too good. He could do whatever he wanted with the ball. The way he cleaned up Marco Jansen was just lovely to watch. It all boiled down to the last over and SA had 16 to hit , with Miller on strike and Hardik bowling the final over.

SKY won the match for India on the first ball – When everyone thought it was a six,SKY did the magic to turn in to  a catch. I did  not think that post this ,SA had anything in their armoury to challenge India . An awesome win for India and long coming. Big difference for India with all other competitors was Bumrah – What a bowler he is – Phenomenal – Unmatched in the entire tournament.

.And …….

• SA defended their tag
• As expected  Virat and Rohit ended their T 20 world cup careers
• Rahul Dravid celebrating the win holding the Cup was something that we have not seen him do in the past – neither in his playing days nor his Coaching career. He ended his coaching stint with a High.
• Shock exit by New Zealand was something difficult to accept.
• Host WI are  a pale shadow of their cricket ability and exited easily
• USA for their first big stage appearance did extremely well – they knocked out Pakistan and So was Plucky Nepal side. They all will be noticed in the future matches
• Afghans made big strides – Thanks to their win against Aussies and Bangla , Aussies had to return home  empty handed .
• SL have a long way to go – the economic situation seems to have rubbed on to its cricket team as well
• Pitches and infrastructure were big concerns both in the US and the WI.
• Except for the final , where there was a decent turnout , crowd coming in was poor in the WI. Stadiums did not look great – Wonder what went in to the thinking to host this at US and WI ?
• But finally India has the depth to manage the retirements of Virat and Rohit in this format and defend the title two years from now .  till then we can cherish the the outstanding victory and the way the last 5 overs of the match unfolded