BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Unbeaten throughout almost a month of cricket across the USA and the Caribbean, India and South Africa will face off at the Kensington Oval on Saturday in the T20 World Cup final both looking to end long waits for glory.
A tournament which has been a mixed bag in terms of quality, entertainment and attendances, has certainly succeeded in setting up a final between the two best teams in the shortest format.
India crushed defending champions England by 68 runs in Guyana on Thursday, the day after South Africa thrashed Afghanistan by nine wickets in Trinidad to end a long and agonizing wait for a title game.
This will be South Africa’s first senior men’s final since the inaugural Champions Trophy in Bangladesh in 1998 when the Proteas beat the West Indies in the title match.
Over the years they have been labelled ‘chokers’ by their critics and had many question how a nation that has produced so many talented players, hasn’t been able to make a final for 26 years.
Skipper Aiden Markram was part of the team which were beaten by Australia in the ODI World Cup last year but says the players haven’t reflected much on the years of near-misses and disappointments.
“We haven’t spoken about it to be honest. I think it’s a personal and individual motivation that you get to a final; to earn the opportunity to hopefully lift the trophy,” he said after the win over the Afghans.
“So you reflect back to five months ago we couldn’t get over the line in that semifinal and you look at (here) a few things went our way. We managed to win the game and we found ourselves in the final.”
Certainly there has been no hint that South Africa have lacked belief in this tournament — they topped group D with a 100 percent record including wins over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Then in the Super Eights, they won all three games with victories over England and co-hosts West Indies and the USA.
“This team’s been together for a long time now as a white ball group, both formats. We feel and we believe that we can compete with the best in the world and we can win trophies. And it’s nice for us to now have that opportunity,” Markram said.
“You do get belief though from winning close games and potentially winning games that you thought you weren’t going to win. It does a lot for your changing room and the vibe in the changing room. So, we’ll take a little bit of confidence from that and see if we can put it to any use in the final,” he added.
India have the chance to banish the memory of their loss to Australia in the final of the 50-over World Cup on home soil last year.
Despite India being the epicenter of the T20 game, through the hugely successful Indian Premier League competition, their only triumph in this competition came 17 years ago.
India’s last trophy of any kind was the Champions Trophy in 2013.
But the team have taken care of their business with little drama, beating arch-rivals Pakistan in New York and going on to win their group before a key win over Australia in the Super Eights.
“We’ve been very calm,” said captain Rohit Sharma.
“We understand the occasion of the final. It’s important we stay composed, because that helps you make good decisions. We have been very steady, calm, and that has been the key for us,” he added.
It was India’s spinners who were the heroes against England with left-armers Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel taking three wickets each.
But they also possess one of the most effective quick bowlers in the format in Jasprit Bumrah.
Rohit, 37, and fellow opener Virat Kohli, 35, came into this tournament looking for glory in what could well be their final tournament.
While Rohit has made more runs, 248, than any player in the final, Kohli has disappointed with just 75 runs in seven innings but has the perfect stage on which to make that form irrelevant.
The historic home of West Indies cricket, should produce the right atmosphere with a large contingent of Indian supporters, as always, expected at the game.
Unbeaten India and South Africa ready to end glory waits in T20 World Cup final
https://arab.news/rx7cd
Unbeaten India and South Africa ready to end glory waits in T20 World Cup final
- India crushed defending champions England by 68 runs a day after South Africa thrashed Afghanistan by nine wickets
- This will be South Africa’s first senior men’s final since the inaugural Champions Trophy played in Bangladesh in 1998
Djokovic inspires Osaka at Wimbledon ahead of daughter’s birthday
LONDON: Naomi Osaka said Sunday she hopes to mark her daughter’s first birthday by making a winning return to Wimbledon thanks to a helping hand from Novak Djokovic.
The Japanese superstar, a four-time Grand Slam champion and a former world number one, hasn’t played at the All England Club since 2019.
Osaka takes on Diane Parry of France in her opener on Monday, the day before she celebrates daughter Shai’s first birthday.
“She’s one on Tuesday so it will be very exciting day,” said the 26-year-old.
“It’s been a great journey and I’m lucky and blessed to have happy girl with lots of energy. It’s a dream to be here with her now.”
Osaka’s four majors came on the hard courts of the US Open and Australian Open.
She made the third round at Wimbledon in 2017 and 2018, losing to former champions Venus Williams and Angelique Kerber respectively.
Her most recent appearance in 2019 was brief with a first round loss to Yulia Putintseva.
In order to improve her chances at this year’s tournament, Osaka has sounded out seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic.
“I tried to slide on grass. I asked Novak how he did it. I have tried a few times but it has been scary. I think I may have to wait for the grass to get brown a little,” she said.
“But he told me no matter if he falls he keeps getting up and doing it. He said I have to overcome the fear of getting hurt.”
Osaka, who only returned to the tour at the start of the year afer maternity leave, is ranked at 113 in the world and required a wild card to play at Wimbledon.
At the recent French Open, she gave world number one Iga Swiatek a mighty scare, holding a match point in their second round clash before the Pole prevailed.
Since then she made the quarter-finals of the grass-court tournament at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and pushed world number eight Zheng Qinwen to three sets in the opening round in Berlin.
“It’s a little weird as I feel I have been playing really well this year but just not making a lot of quarter-finals,” said Osaka.
“I feel that had I not played Iga, I could have gone a long way in Paris. I just need some luck.”
She added: “I lost first round in Berlin, but I learned lot. I’m feeling pretty good about myself. People tell me I have game for grass.”
Spalletti to remain Italy coach despite Euro 2024 humbling
- Italy were dumped out of the Euros at the last 16 stage after being soundly beaten 2-0 by Switzerland in Berlin on Saturday night, but a disastrous title defense has not cost Spalletti his job
ISERLOHN: Luciano Spalletti will stay on as Italy coach despite the Azzurri’s humbling elimination from Euro 2024, the country’s football chief said on Sunday.
Italy were dumped out of the Euros at the last 16 stage after being soundly beaten 2-0 by Switzerland in Berlin on Saturday night, but a disastrous title defense has not cost Spalletti his job.
“I’m pragmatic, it’s impossible to resolve problems by abandoning a long-term project or by abandoning the coach and players who have accompanied us in this project,” Gabriele Gravina, head of Italy’s football federation, told reporters.
Italy came into the Euros as reigning champions but flopped in Germany under Spalletti, who replaced Euro 2020 winner Roberto Mancini last summer.
“Spalletti has our faith, he has to have our faith, he needs to get to work, as in 60 days the Nations League begins,” added Gravina.
“We can’t imagine that a (Kylian) Mbappe or Cristiano Ronaldo will suddenly come on the scene, so we need to be patient.”
Spalletti took the Italy job with a huge amount of credit after leading Napoli to a historic Serie A title but has had a dreadful tournament, chopping and changing line-ups and formations and railing at journalists.
The 65-year-old said before the tournament that he would bring the best version of himself into the biggest job of his long and eventful coaching career.
Asked if he had achieved that, Spalletti said: “Obviously not, because if not I would be here talking about something different.”
“The match last night brought us back down to zero, and it’s from there that we need to start again,” said Spalletti.
Italy begin their Nations League campaign against France in Paris on September 6, and also face Belgium and Israel in Group A2.
End of an era as India faces T20 future without Kohli, Rohit
- Both Rohit and Kohli called time on their T20 careers for India after its second T20 World Cup title
NEW DELHI: Indian cricket on Sunday savoured World Cup victory while also coming to terms with the T20 retirements of modern-day greats, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Both Rohit and Kohli called time on their T20 careers for India after the cricketing powerhouse edged South Africa to clinch its second T20 World Cup title in Barbados on Saturday.
The two batting stalwarts have carried the dreams of a cricket-crazy nation for over 15 years and ended the shortest format at their peak.
Kohli’s match-winning 76 earned him the player of the final award, and Rohit led the team from the front with three half-centuries in the tournament, in which India remained unbeaten.
“It has been so amazing playing with them for so many years. We all will miss them but... this is the best farewell we can give them,” Hardik Pandya, Rohit’s deputy in the tournament, said after the win.
Roger Binny, who was part of the 1983 World Cup-winning team and is now president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), termed the two stalwarts’ exit a “great loss.”
He said it would be tough to replace them immediately, despite India’s good pool of T20 players in the Indian Premier League.
Kohli, 35, won his second World Cup crown after the 2011 ODI win under M.S. Dhoni, who also led India to title victory in T20’s showpiece event in 2007 at the inaugural edition.
A rookie Rohit, now 37, was part of the first T20 triumph when India beat arch-rivals Pakistan in the final in Johannesburg.
The two stalwarts, who have 45,961 runs between them across three international formats, will stay on in Test and ODI cricket.
The title clash with South Africa was also the last match for outgoing coach Rahul Dravid, a former captain who left the international stage as a player without a World Cup win.
Dravid, 51, said he will miss Rohit as a person more than just as a captain and player who amassed runs and records.
Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir is widely reported to succeed Dravid as coach of the high-profile Indian team.
Gambhir, who remained a key part of India’s 2011 ODI World Cup win at home, coached IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders to their third title this year.
“There was speculation that some senior players will be sent off after Gambhir comes in (as coach), but both Rohit and Kohli ended on a high note,” former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.
“It was a good decision by both. Before anybody sacks them, or creates a doubt about their selection, a big player should decide their own fate.”
The T20 triumph has been redemption for Rohit, who was stripped of his IPL captaincy from Mumbai Indians this year.
Pandya was handed the leadership role, much to the disappointment of many fans.
Kohli proved his big-match credentials, with his 59-ball 76 in the final clash — after he managed just 75 runs in seven innings during the competition until the finale.
All-rounder Pandya will be Rohit’s likely replacement as leader in the T20 format, but batsman Suryakumar Yadav also remains in the fray for the role.
Rohit succeeded Kohli as white-ball skipper in 2021 and became all-format captain months later with BCCI and fans getting uneasy over India’s global title drought since their Champions Trophy win in 2013.
But Pandya said there was “a lot of time” before the next T20 World Cup in 2026 for India to prepare.
“I am very happy for both Rohit and Virat, two giants and legends of Indian cricket, (they) thoroughly deserved this,” he said.
T20 triumph may herald India’s dominance, say former players
- India prevailed in thriller against South Africa to claim second 20-overs global trophy 17 years after winning inaugural edition
- It was India’s first global title since winning the 2013 Champions Trophy, but their consistency in recent years was never in doubt
NEW DELHI: The era of India’s dominance in cricket may have kicked in with their spectacular triumph in the T20 World Cup on Saturday, according to several former players.
India prevailed in an edge-of-the-seat thriller against South Africa in Bridgetown to claim their second 20-overs global trophy 17 years after winning the inaugural edition.
It was India’s first global title since winning the 2013 Champions Trophy, but their consistency in recent years was never in doubt.
India lost back-to-back finals of the World Test Championships in 2021 and 2023, while their only defeat in the 50-overs home World Cup last year came in the summit clash against Australia.
They ended that barren streak in International Cricket Council (ICC) events on Saturday when India became the first team to win the T20 World Cup going unbeaten in the tournament.
“I have a feeling that this is a breakout win for us,” former India opener Virender Sehwag wrote on X.
“For years, we have played well, been consistent in a range, consolidated but not able to get past the finish line,” he wrote. “With this win, I think we would be winning many ICC trophies consistently in the years to come.”
India’s resurgence follows the demise of England’s white-ball dominance as the Jos Buttler-led side have now failed to defend two World Cup titles in eight months.
India appear to have inherited that mantle, believes former England fast bowler Steven Finn.
“India are formidable — they have got all bases covered in all conditions,” Finn told the BBC. “This experience could see them go on to dominate now. It is an experience that will serve them very well.”
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly predicted “they will win many more” after the success in the Caribbean.
Batting great Sachin Tendulkar said India’s overall fourth World Cup title in limited-overs cricket would be a major motivation for young talents in the country.
“Every star added to the Team India jersey inspires our nation’s starry-eyed children to move one step closer to their dreams. India gets the 4th star, our second in @T20WorldCup,” Tendulkar wrote on X.
India’s domination in the 20-overs format will have to be under a new leadership, though.
Captain Rohit Sharma and stalwart Virat Kohli bowed out of T20 Internationals after winning the World Cup, while it was also head coach Rahul Dravid’s last match in charge of the squad.
No Messi, no problem as Argentina down Peru at Copa America
- Lionel Messi sidelined after complaining of a sore right hamstring
- Despite the makeshift-looking line-up, Argentina were always in control against a disappointing Peru side
