Bridgetown. In the most thrilling final of the T20 World Cup, the Indian team registered a memorable victory over South Africa on the basis of a wonderful combination of patience and passion. India performed impressively throughout the tournament and became the champion without losing a match.
This World Cup witnessed many memorable moments in which USA’s victory over Pakistan and Afghanistan’s reaching the semi-finals will be seen as a big achievement. Here are some important memorable moments from the last few weeks of the tournament.
1. America’s memorable victory against Pakistan
The US, which is jointly hosting this tournament with the West Indies for the first time, created a stir by defeating former champion Pakistan in a match that went till the Super Over in Dallas. US batsman Nitish Kumar equalled Pakistan’s score by hitting a four on the last ball of Haris Rauf. After this, the US defeated Pakistan in the Super Over and caused one of the biggest upsets in the cricket world.
2. India defeated arch-rival Pakistan on a difficult pitch
On a fast bowler friendly pitch in New York, the Indian team was all out for 119 runs in 19 overs. In response, Pakistan was moving towards an easy victory but their team fell six runs short of the target due to the brilliant bowling of Jaspreet Bumrah.
3. America gave a tough challenge to the Indian team
After defeating Pakistan, the confident US team gave a tough fight to India in the group stage match. The US team was bowled out for just 110 runs in front of the brilliant bowling of Arshdeep Singh (four wickets for nine runs). While chasing the target, India lost the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant for 39 runs. In difficult conditions for the batsmen, Suryakumar Yadav scored a restrained half-century and pulled the team out of trouble.
4. Afghanistan reaches the semi-finals
After defeating New Zealand in the group stage, Afghanistan qualified for the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time by defeating Bangladesh by eight runs in a low-scoring close match in the Super Eight. However, the team had earlier registered its biggest success in this format by causing a big upset against Australia. The Rashid Khan-led team proved that they are no longer a weak team in world cricket.
5. Rohit’s explosive batting against Australia
Indian captain Rohit Sharma played one of the most aggressive innings in the T20 world cup, scoring 92 runs in 41 balls against Australia. Australia’s bowlers, especially Mitchell Marsh, had no answer to Rohit’s aggressive batting.
Due to his innings, the team registered a spectacular victory and booked a ticket to the semi-finals.
6. Afghanistan were bowled out for 56 against South Africa
Afghanistan’s team, which reached the semi-finals after registering several strong victories, was all out for just 56 runs. Due to this, the team missed out on making its grand start even more memorable.
7. England batsmen fell to Kuldeep and Akshar
England had no answer to the efficient captaincy of Rohit, who was a brilliant captain throughout the World Cup. After the brilliant batting of Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, when defending champion England captain Jos Buttler adopted an aggressive approach against the fast bowlers, Rohit handed the ball to Akshar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. These left-arm spinners ensured a memorable victory for the team by deceiving the England batsmen with their spin. With this victory, India reached the final of an ICC tournament for the third time in 12 months.
8. Kohli’s bat performed well in the final
Virat Kohli, who was desperate for runs throughout the World Cup, made the most important contribution with the bat when the team needed it the most. Kohli silenced the critics who were questioning his place in the playing eleven by playing a memorable innings of 76 runs in 59 balls against South Africa in the final.
9. Amazing catch by Suryakumar Yadav
Kohli made a brilliant comeback by scoring a half-century in the World Cup final, but India’s grip on the match became stronger when Suryakumar presented a great example of concentration in fielding under pressure. He took a brilliant catch near the boundary on David Miller’s big shot when South Africa needed just 16 runs in the last over. This catch of Suryakumar Yadav reminded us of Kapil Dev’s catch which won India the ODI World Cup in 1983.
10. Kohli and Rohit retire from T20 Internationals
Immediately after winning the T20 World Cup final, Kohli announced his retirement from this format while receiving the Man of the Match award, while Rohit said goodbye to international matches in the shortest format of the game. Both the players gave many memorable moments to the team in their career of about 15 years in this format.