India Are T20 World Champions

by Adriel ‘Woody’ Richard India survived a rollercoaster of emotions and justified their tag of favourites when they stormed to their second ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup title on Saturday with a seven-run win against South Africa in a tense finish to the final here in Barbados. Superior “death bowling” from the Indians enabled them to end their 13-year wait for a world title after a resolute 76 from Virat Kohli rescued them from a shaky start, and they set the South Africans the highest total in a T20 World Cup final of 177 under overcast skies at Kensington Oval. The match came down to the Proteas requiring 30 from the last 30 balls, but the wicket of top scorer Heinrich Klaasen caught behind off pacer Hardik Pandya for 52 in the 17th over swung the match decisively in favour of the World No. 1 in the format. Ungainly fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah – later named Player-of-the-Tournament – conceded only two runs and bowled Marco Jansen for two in the next over, and South Africa required 20 from the last two overs. Turban-wearing left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh conceded only four from the penultimate over, and the match came down to...