Bridgetown [Barbados], India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat against South Africa in the T20 World Cup final here at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, on Saturday.
On their way to the final, the Proteas recorded an authoritative nine-wicket victory to end Afghanistan's dream campaign, India defeated England by 68 runs and avenged their defeat in the semi-finals of the 2022 edition.
Both teams have had a contrasting run in the tournament. The Rohit Sharma-led team has dominated every team it has faced in the tournament, including heavyweights like Australia, Pakistan and England.
While the Proteas, on numerous occasions, narrowly escaped defeat en route to the final, Bangladesh and Nepal gave them a chance to win in the group stage. In their final Super 8 match against co-hosts West Indies, they almost sealed their exit as they chased the revised target of 123. They lost a couple of wickets towards the end, but Marco Jansen came to the rescue and sealed a three-wicket win.
After winning the toss, India captain Rohit Sharma said: "Let's bat first, it looks like a good pitch. We have played a game here and the scores have been really good. As far as understanding individual roles, I know that It is important". It's a big occasion, but it's important to stay calm and play it as if it were another international match against a good team. South Africa has played good cricket, but so have we. It's going to be a really good match between two different teams. People have stepped up at different times, and that's what we expect today as well.
South Africa captain Aiden Markram said during the toss: "I would have batted first too, it looks dry. But we have the first chance with the ball so I hope we can do well. At times, we haven't been at our best." We couldn't, but we still managed to win and we are confident in that. It is not possible to be perfect, but we want to be as close as possible to that. There is no pressure on us, we have never been in a final and we just want to enjoy it and be there. on our best team.
India (playing XI): Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
South Africa (playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi.
On their way to the final, the Proteas recorded an authoritative nine-wicket victory to end Afghanistan's dream campaign, India defeated England by 68 runs and avenged their defeat in the semi-finals of the 2022 edition.
Both teams have had a contrasting run in the tournament. The Rohit Sharma-led team has dominated every team it has faced in the tournament, including heavyweights like Australia, Pakistan and England.
While the Proteas, on numerous occasions, narrowly escaped defeat en route to the final, Bangladesh and Nepal gave them a chance to win in the group stage. In their final Super 8 match against co-hosts West Indies, they almost sealed their exit as they chased the revised target of 123. They lost a couple of wickets towards the end, but Marco Jansen came to the rescue and sealed a three-wicket win.
After winning the toss, India captain Rohit Sharma said: "Let's bat first, it looks like a good pitch. We have played a game here and the scores have been really good. As far as understanding individual roles, I know that It is important". It's a big occasion, but it's important to stay calm and play it as if it were another international match against a good team. South Africa has played good cricket, but so have we. It's going to be a really good match between two different teams. People have stepped up at different times, and that's what we expect today as well.
South Africa captain Aiden Markram said during the toss: "I would have batted first too, it looks dry. But we have the first chance with the ball so I hope we can do well. At times, we haven't been at our best." We couldn't, but we still managed to win and we are confident in that. It is not possible to be perfect, but we want to be as close as possible to that. There is no pressure on us, we have never been in a final and we just want to enjoy it and be there. on our best team.
India (playing XI): Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
South Africa (playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi.
