BARBADOS: India won the toss and decided to bat first against South Africa in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Final at the Kensington Oval stadium in Barbados.
India and South both are going unchanged from their semi-final wins against England and Afghanistan respectively.
India had won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, beating arch-rival Pakistan by 5 runs.
While this is the first time the Proteas Men are competing in a World Cup final in any format, having lost seven semi-finals, including a gut-wrenching defeat against Australia in the 1999 World Cup.
The possibility of stormy weather over the weekend, with some rain forecast for Saturday, had raised concerns among organisers but as early arrivals began taking their seats there was no sign of precipitation.
The 28,000-capacity venue, regarding by many as the spiritual home of West Indies cricket, is expected to be sold out with many Indian fans travelling from afar for the match.
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 agonising wait for a title game.
Since entering World Cups in 1991, following the end of apartheid, South Africa had lost seven semi-finals in the two short formats.
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.
India experienced the double disappointment last year of defeat in the World Test Championship final and the 50-over World Cup — losing both to Australia.
The country which more than any other popularised the shortest form with the hugely successful Indian Premier League now stands on the brink of their second T20 World Cup title and first since the inaugural edition in 2007.
Playing XI India
Rohit Sharma (capt), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
Playing XI South Africa
Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (capt), David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
