by Mick the Ram

South Africa and India will battle it out for the 2024 T20 crown when they meet in the final in Barbados on Saturday 29 June.

They both had an easy passage in their respective semi-finals, with first of all South Africa comfortably seeing off a plucky Afghanistan, who they dismissed for a record low score.

Then India posted a competitive total which England never threatened to get near and were in truth, completely outclassed.

Both sides will go into the climax of the tournament unbeaten, guaranteeing that on this occasion, the competition’s best team will lift the trophy.

Crucial toss to win… or not?

In the clash between one of the form teams of this T20 tournament and the current holders, it looked as if it would be a close run thing.

England won the toss and chose to chase and that didn’t look a bad shout when India lost Virat Kohli early, after the start was delayed by 75 minutes following a heavy shower.

Captain steps forward

Rohit Sharma played a captain’s knock compiling a 36-ball half-century, in an excellent partnership with Suryakumar Yadav, as they steadily built a total to defend.

Two sixes and 2 wickets came in an eventful 18th over, as players continued to struggle with a slow, gripping surface.

Above par score always looked too much

Nevertheless, 171-7 represented an above average score and it looked even better when Jos Buttler went trying a reverse sweep and he was quickly followed by opening partner Phil Salt and Jonny Bairstow for a duck.

Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadev shared 6 wickets as England stumbled to 72-7 and went into the last 8 overs still 100 short of their target. When Liam Livingstone was run-out all hopes were extinguished and soon after they were dismissed for 103, to comprehensively lose by 68 runs,

India had outplayed their opponents and will go into the final in very good spirits.

South Africa ease their way through

In the other semi-final the South Africans made light work of accounting for Afghanistan – the surprise outfit of the tournament – who having won the toss, appeared to make the wrong choice and elect to bat on a really difficult pitch at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, in Trinidad.

They were always in trouble and sadly for them, their total of 56 accrued in 11.5 overs was the lowest ever score in a T20 World Cup semi-final.

Eighth time lucky

Only Azmatullah Omarzai reached double figures with a battling 10. Anrich Nortje bowled 3 overs and took 2-7, after which the Proteas knocked the target off in just 8.5 overs, although skipper Aiden Markram (23 not out) and Reeza Hendricks (29 not out) took no risks on a very sticky surface.

It meant they booked their place in a men’s World Cup final for the first time, after a frustrating run of seven successive semi-final defeats in all formats.

Honest assessment from defeated captain

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan accepted defeat graciously, saying: “It was a tough, tough match for us as a team, although we might have done a bit better than that, but the conditions didn’t let us.”

Brushing aside the disappointment, he added: “We will always remember this T20 World Cup, the fight by everyone on this team is commendable and I’m proud of all of us.”

Nothing to fear

Unbeaten throughout the group stages, South Africa will be full of confidence and captain Markram said afterwards: “It feels good. It is a massive squad effort and I’m chuffed we have one more crack at winning a trophy.”

He also was honest regarding the pitch saying his side were fortunate to have lost the toss, as he would have opted to bat first also. Nevertheless, he praised his bowlers, pointing out that they still had to get enough balls in the right areas.

He added: “It’s an exciting challenge for us and we’ve never been there before, but it’s nothing to be scared of, it’s an opportunity that we’ve never had, and we’ll be really excited about that opportunity.”

Classic on the cards

They now look forward to what promises to be a titanic clash with another of the heavyweights in India on Saturday 29 June, at the Kensington Oval, Barbados.

It has all the makings of a classic.