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2024 ICC T20 World Cup
Twenty20 International Format
Final
South Africa v India
Kensington Oval
Bridgetown, Barbados
Saturday, 29 June 2024
South Africa will be brimming with confidence when they lock horns with India in a historic T20 World Cup final at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday, June 29.
The Proteas finally got a weighty monkey off their back as they reached a World Cup final for the first time after beating surprise package Afghanistan in the semi-finals on June 26.
They had been labelled "chokers" after falling at the penultimate hurdle on seven occasions in the past, winning just one of their 10 knockout games prior to the tournament in the West Indies and United States.
Rob Walter's side haven't played exceptional cricket at the 2024 edition, but they put in a solid all-round performance against the Afghans to cruise to a nine-wicket victory.
Marco Jansen and Tabraiz Shamsi took three wickets each as the opposition were dismissed for a paltry 56 in 11.5 overs, with Reeza Hendricks (29*) and Aiden Markram (23*) steering South Africa home after Quinton de Kock fell early on.
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The Proteas have yet to taste defeat at the 2024 T20 World Cup and Markram insists they will stick to the same policy of picking the team best suited to the conditions on the day in a bid to bring home the trophy.
"Cricket's a funny game where things go right for you, things don't go right for you, and you take it in your stride," he said. "But we're happy with the squad that we have here.
"It's not just the XI playing. It's a massive squad effort. And you pick your XI based on conditions. That's all it's about. So once we get to Barbados and we see what we think we're going to come across in terms of the pitch, then we'll try to pick our best XI.
"But we're really happy as a white-ball group where we are and the options that we do have when it comes to selection."
India are contesting their second final in the space of just seven months after losing to Australia in the 2023 World Cup decider on home soil in the ODI format.
The Men in Blue have also gone unbeaten in the tournament, although their perfect record was spoiled by the weather after the clash with Canada in the group stages was abandoned due to rain.
Rahul Dravid's side banished the memories of their 2022 disappointment when they lost to eventual champions England by 10 wickets in the semi-finals by getting their revenge this time around.
India set the opposition roughly the same target as two years ago, posting 171/7 from their allotted 20 overs, with captain Rohit Sharma hitting a brisk 57 off 39 balls to set the tone at the top of the order.
Axar Patel decimated the English top order and finished with figures of 3/23, while Kuldeep Yadav also impressed with the ball, taking three wickets himself for just 19 runs as the defending champions were dismissed for 103.
Sharma admitted it was pleasing to get payback against England and revealed a "calm and composed" approach has been key to their success throughout the campaign in West Indies and United States.
"Yeah, it's very satisfying to win this game," he said. "We've worked really hard to come to this stage, and to win the game like that was a great effort from everyone.
"I thought we played to the conditions really well; that's been the success story for us so far. If bowlers and batters understand and play according to the conditions, things fall in place. It's very pleasing how we came through.
"We've been very calm as a team. We do understand the occasion [of a final], but for us, it's important to keep calm and composed. That helps us make good decisions.
"We need to make good decisions through the 40 overs. In this game too, we were steady and calm, and didn't panic too much. That has been the key for us. Yes, we do understand the occasion is important, but we need to play good cricket as well."
Head-to-Head (T20)
Matches - 26
South Africa - 11
India - 14
Draws - 0
No result - 1
T20 World Rankings
1 - India
5 - South Africa
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