T20 World Cup final: South Africa needed 30 runs off 30 balls, but here’s how India prevailed to lift the trophy | Cricket News

South Africa needed 30 runs off 30 balls after Axar Patel conceded 24 runs in the 14th over. Surely it was game over? But Indian bowlers had other plans. Here are the key moments that turned the match.
Enter Jasprit Bumrah. It felt like that match was firmly in South Africa’s grasps and Rohit Sharma was left with no choice but to turn to his star pacer. South Africa perhaps did the right thing in playing out that over safely. David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen struggled, were edgy, and the over went for 4 runs. “What is the difficult shot for the batter? It was reverse swinging, I was able to keep calm and execute,” Bumrah would reveal later.

! Jansen departs! 👊🏻#JaspritBumrah cleans up #MarcoJansen & #TeamIndia are making a incredible comeback in this game! 🔥#T20WorldCupFinal | #INDvsSA | LIVE NOW pic.twitter.com/VfD3aoFX
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Over 16.1. Perhaps the most important delivery Hardik Pandya has bowled in his career. There was a small break in play and on came Hardik. A marauding Klaasen would have thought this over is one to cash in. But Hardik calmly delivered a wide slower one, the outside edge was taken and Rishabh Pant did the rest. India believe. 22 off 18.
Does Rohit hold Bumrah back for the 19th now? No, the time is here and now. He turns to his star man once more, and Bumrah delivers once more. After nearly getting Miller out first ball, Bumrah delivered a peach to beat Marco Jansen on his inside edge… boom, timber. Strangely enough, Maharaj takes a single off the last ball of the over, just 2 off it. 20 off 12. Bumrah’s done, over to the rest.

With Maharaj on strike, Arshdeep Singh started the 19th over with two dot balls and the pressure was firmly back on SA. A 4-run over from the left-arm pacer under pressure.

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Hardik had 16 runs to defend… and Miller was on strike. He angled one wide to Miller, and it turned into a full toss. Miller powered it high into the sky, and SKY came up with a stunning piece of athleticism, running to his left from long off. A catch that will be spoken about for a long time. Hardik defended it for India, and broke down in tears. “Special for me after my six months, I haven’t spoken a word, things have been unfair, but I knew there’d be a time I could shine,” he’d say a few minutes later.
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