India win trophy from a near-impossible position as SA choke again
India beat South Africa from a near-impossible position to lift the second T20 World Cup trophy. The Rohit Sharma-led side won the thrilling final by seven runs as the Proteas’s batting order chocked to Indian pacers in the last five overs. With 30 required off 30 balls and six wickets in hand, South Africa were all set to enjoy their maiden title triumph, but India bowlers showed a never-give-up attitude and conceded just 22 runs off the next five overs to hand the inaugural champions a last-over victory.
Out-of-form Kohli shines in his last T20I innings
India’s batting star Virat Kohli retired from T20Is in style. He rose to the occasion when it all mattered in the final against South Africa. The opener, who had scored just 75 in the last seven matches of the tournament made amends by smashing 76 off 59 deliveries to take India to 176-7, the highest team total in the T20 World Cup final. Earlier in the tournament, Kohli became the first Indian player to register five single-digit scores in the T20 World Cup which included two ducks.
Rohit in destructive mode as India smash fastest team 100
Rohit Sharma came out all guns blazing against Australia in their last Super 8 clash. The Indian skipper was in destructive mode against the tournament favourites as Team India smashed 100 in just 8.4 overs—the fastest by any team in the T20 World Cup. The impact of Rohit`s innings was such that at one stage, out of the team’s total of 52-1, 50 came off the captain’s bat. His 41-ball 92-run knock was laced with seven fours and eight sixes. In this process, he also became the first player to hit 200 sixes in T20Is. The opener also recorded the fastest half-century of the 2024 T20 World Cup, completing it in just 19 balls, and also became the first Indian captain to win a Man of the Match award in T20 World Cup. He continued his fine form in the semi-final against England to emerge as the top-scorer of the match with 57 off 39 balls. He, however, was dismissed for just nine off five balls in the final—also his last T20I innings—against South Africa.
Most 50-plus opening partnerships in 1 season (Afghanistan)
Afghanistan shocked one and all with their stunning performance to enter the T20 World Cup semi-final for the first time, thanks to an impressive show by the opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran. The openers registered four 50-plus runs partnerships in the 2024 T20 World Cup including three century stands, the most by a pair in a single edition. Gurbaz and Zadran shared 154 in their opening match against Uganda, 103 versus New Zealand, 118 against Australia, and 59 in a must-win game against Bangladesh. In this process, the duo also broke the record for most runs by a pair in the single edition (428) to go past Pakistan`s Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan (411) during the 2021 edition held in the UAE.
Hat-trick for Chris Jordan
Chris Jordan bagged a hat-trick against the USA in their last Super 8 encounter to become the first English player to achieve this feat in T20Is. The right-arm pacer dismissed the last four USA batters in five balls as the first-timers collapsed from 115-6 to 115 all out in the 19th over. Jordan’s victims included Ali Khan, Nosthush Kenjige and Saurabh Netravalkar. It was also the third hat-trick in the 2024 T20 World Cup after Australia’s Pat Cummins became the first bowler to bag back-to-back hat-tricks in T20Is.
