India defeated South Africa by 7 runs to win their second T20 World Cup title.[4]Virat Kohli was named Player of the Match for scoring 76 runs off 59 balls, while Jasprit Bumrah won Player of the Tournament for taking 15 wickets at an economy of 4.17.[5] The final was also the last T20I match played by Kohli, Indian captain Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja.[6][7]
On 22 September 2023, the ICC released the venues that would host matches across the tournament,[8] with the Kensington Oval in Barbados being named as the venue for the final.[9] On 5 January 2024, the ICC announced the tournament's schedule, with the final taking place on 29 June.[10] This was the second T20 World Cup final played at Barbados, after the 2010 final.
South Africa played their maiden T20 World Cup final,[11] while India reached their third final, having been champions in 2007 and runners-up in 2014.[12] Both teams qualified for the final unbeaten, with neither of them losing a Group Stage or a Super 8 game.[13] Before this match, India and South Africa had played each other six times in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, with India recording four wins (2007, 2010, 2012, 2014) and South Africa winning two (2009 and 2022).[14][15]
India then defeated defending champions England in the semi-final at the Providence Stadium in Guyana to earn their place at the T20 World Cup final for the third time.[30]
Both teams remained unchanged from their semi-final matches. India's captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first.[32]
India innings
Virat Kohli scored the most runs for India in the match (76 runs off of 59 balls) and was awarded the Player of the match
Virat Kohli, being out of form for the majority of the tournament, helped with a quick start to the Indian innings by scoring three boundaries in the first over from Marco Jansen. Then Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant were dismissed early in the next over, bowled by Keshav Maharaj. Soon Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada in the fourth over, leaving India at 34 runs for 3 wickets. Virat Kohli and Axar Patel tried to stabilize the innings and the partnership managed to score 72 runs leaving India on 106 runs for 4 wickets. But Axar Patel was run out thanks to a quick throw by wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock. Shivam Dube joined Kohli in the middle and the duo managed to score 50 runs off 32 balls. While attempting a hit off Jansen, Kohli was caught by Rabada. In the last over bowled by Anrich Nortje, India scored 9 runs, with Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja dismissed and India scoring 176 runs for 7 wickets. Kohli was the highest run-scorer for India scoring 76 runs off 59 balls while Keshav Maharaj was the best bowler for South Africa as he picked up 2 wickets for 23 runs in 3 overs.[33][34][35]
South Africa innings
South Africa had a slow start with the early dismissals of Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram leaving South Africa on 12 runs off 2 wickets. Quinton de Kock and Tristan Stubbs managed to put a partnership of 58 runs off 38 balls before Stubbs was dismissed by Axar Patel.[33][34][35] In the middle of the 13th over Quinton de Kock was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh leaving South Africa on 106 runs off 4 wickets. Heinrich Klaasen's fiery innings of 52 runs from just 27 balls helped South Africa to go past 150, which included scoring 24 runs off an over of Axar Patel's bowling. At one point, South Africa needed 30 runs from 30 balls. With 26 needed from 24 balls, Klassen was dismissed by Hardik Pandya which was the turning point of the match and India got the breakthrough after a lengthy break between 15th and 16th over of the match. Soon Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Marco Jansen in the 18th over and conceded only two runs. Arshdeep stepped up allowing only 4 runs to be scored of his over, with South Africa needing 16 from the last over. The last over was bowled by Hardik Pandya and on the first ball of the over he took the wicket of David Miller thanks to a well judged catch by Suryakumar Yadav in the deep. Suryakumar Yadav's catch was hailed as "one of the greatest catches of all time in cricket history" by on-air commentator Ian Smith,[36] who remarked "Oh my god, I believe I've just seen athleticism at its very best".[37] Soon Rabada was also dismissed on the fifth ball. As South Africa required 9 runs from the last bowl, Pandya conceded only a single due to which India won the match by 7 runs. Klaasen was the highest run scorer for South Africa while Pandya was the best bowler for India as he took 3 wickets and conceded only 20 runs from his 3 overs. Bumrah and Arshdeep got 2 wickets each while Axar Patel took 1 wicket.[33][34][35]
India scored the highest-ever total in the final of a T20 World Cup (176), surpassing the score of 172 set by New Zealand in 2021.[44]
India won their second T20 World Cup title, equalling the West Indies and England in most tournaments won.[45] India also broke the record of the longest time between successive tournament wins (17 years), breaking the record of 12 years set by England.[46]
India also became the first team to win the T20 World Cup by winning 8 matches without losing.[47]
This was India's first win in a major ICC event in 11 years, with their previous win being the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.[49][50] India also became the first team in T20 World Cup history to win the title undefeated throughout the tournament.[51]Rohit Sharma became the second Indian captain to win the T20 World Cup after MS Dhoni (2007).[52] India became the first Asian country to win two ICC Men's T20 World Cups (2007 and 2024) and the third ICC full member to do so after West Indies and England.[53]
The match was hailed as one of the closest fought finals in T20 World Cup history as the match swung in favour of both teams, culminating in South Africa needing to score 16 runs off the last 6 balls.[57]Ravi Shastri who was on air summed up the emotions running high among the fans with his commentary: "It's up in the air and its India who win the T20 World Cup after 17 years. The drought is over. An ICC tournament win after 2013".[58]
Suryakumar Yadav's presence of mind and athleticism were lauded when he took a difficult catch by running a long way across near the boundary, with his left foot close to the boundary cushion. Action replays suggested that it was a fair and clean catch, as confirmed by the video umpire.[59] Subsequently, some fans on social media made unverified speculation that his shoe might have flicked the boundary cushion,[60] before a new video showing the catch from a different angle dispelled the doubts and confirmed the catch's validity.[61][62] The catch was also widely likened to that of former Indian captain Kapil Dev in the final of the 1983 Cricket World Cup, where Dev took an important running catch to dismiss West Indies' hard-hitting batsman Vivian Richards.[63][64]
South Africa faced criticism for choking in the closing phase of the match, as they were favoured to chase down the total comfortably at one stage.[65][66] After the dismissal of Klaasen, South Africa's lower-order batters, mostly comprising genuine frontline bowlers, failed to cope with the tight bowling strategies of India and could not support David Miller at the other end, causing debates over South Africa's vulnerable low-order batting.[67][68] South Africa captain Aiden Markram admitted that the defeat was a tough pill to swallow and described it as a "gut-wrenching and bittersweet ending to a great campaign", but heaped praise on his teammates who had helped the team reach the final as one of only two unbeaten sides of the tournament.[69][70][71]
Major cities in India such as Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Hyderabad and Jammu celebrated the win late into the night.[75][76][77] Indian supporters in New York City, London, Barbados and various other overseas locations also celebrated the win by hoisting Indian flags and setting off firecrackers.[78] Later, BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced a cash reward of ₹125 crore (US$15 million) for Team India for the win.[79] The Indian team's departure from Barbados was delayed by over two days due to Hurricane Beryl, which caused a shutdown of air traffic from the island.[80]
On 4 July 2024, the Indian team was greeted with a warm welcome by the fans as they landed in Delhi.[81] The players and support staff met with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, New Delhi.[82][83] They then flew to Mumbai, taking a 2-kilometre open bus ride from Nariman Point to the Wankhede Stadium, for which an estimated 300,000 fans gathered at the Marine Drive.[84][85] At the Wankhede Stadium, the team was felicitated by the BCCI and a cheque of ₹125 crore (US$15 million) was handed over by Jay Shah and BCCI President Roger Binny.[86][87][88]
