T20 World Cup 2024 final: Kohli, Axar take India to competitive total after poor powerplay
The Hindu
ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2024 final: India vs South Africa T20 World Cup 2024 final in Bridgetown on June 29, 2024.
Virat Kohli was guarded in his approach while Axar Patel was the enforcer as India recovered from early jitters to post 176 for 7 against South Africa in the T20 World Cup final in Bridgetown on June 29.
At 34 for three, India were staring at another batting failure in a big final before Axar (47 off 31) and Kohli (76 off 59) turned the tide for them.
Axar was run out in an unfortunate manner, completely against the run of play, which brought about an end to his 72-run partnership off 54 balls with Kohli. Kohli did slow down considerably in the middle overs to bring up his first 50 off the tournament with 48 balls.
India vs South Africa LIVE Score, T20 World Cup Final 2024
Rohit Sharma (9) had no hesitation in batting first at Kensington Oval where the pitch has not been the easiest to bat on through the competition.
The Indian captain, coming from two back to back match winning efforts, departed early after collecting couple of consecutive fours off Keshav Maharaj in the second over of the game.
Maharaj responded well by having Rohit caught at square leg as the batter went for a sweep. Rohit and incoming batter Rishabh Pant both fell to the sweep shot.