Bridgetown: It is expected to be a blockbuster showdown when India takes on South Africa in the upcoming T20 World Cup final, in Bridgetown on Saturday.
But the issue with this year’s T20 World Cup has been persistent rain which has destroyed the flow of the tournament, and is expected to rain in Bridgetown on Saturday too.
If the match gets abandoned and there is no result, even after reserve day, both sides will be declared joint winners. For the final, a total of 190 minutes has been allotted, as well as the reserve day.
India and South Africa had somewhat contrasting journeys into the semi-finals, with India pulling off comprehensive wins against every team except Pakistan and to some extent, the USA. Had their final group fixture against Canada in Lauderhill not ended in a complete washout, the Men in Blue could have had a 100 per cent winning run in the tournament like their opponents on Saturday.
South Africa, meanwhile has won all of their matches in the tournament so far but none of their wins in the group stage as well as in the Super 8s looked outright convincing as some of India’s wins, especially in the second round. They had stuttered in their chase after bowling former champions and two-time runners-up Sri Lanka out for 77 in New York and faced the prospect of a defeat at one point in their victories of Netherlands, Bangladesh and Nepal — whom they beat by a solitary run.
Both the Men in Blue as well as the Proteas, however, underlined their status as top contenders for the title with their comprehensive victories in the semi-finals.
Their performances in the semis highlighted the core reason why Saturday’s showdown at the iconic venue that had hosted the final of the 2007 ODI World Cup and the 2010 World T20 is expected to be every bit a cracker of a contest and one that could potentially be decided in a Super Over — which would be a first in the tournament’s history.
The two finalists, after all, are evenly matched in all three departments, which is what makes the match-ups for Saturday’s encounter so exciting.
Likely XIs:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah
South Africa: 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
