The T20 World Cup 2024 is already in the business end with only two teams remaining out of the 20 participating teams. South Africa and India will be facing each other in the final of the marquee tournament on Saturday at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown. Both sides have performed excellently in the tournament so far. The Proteas were the first finalists after they defeated Afghanistan in the semi-final and qualified for the ultimate game for the first time in their history.
On the other hand the Men in Blue, have come to yet another final after beating England in the semis and seven months losing the ODI World Cup 2023 in India. Rohit Sharma has led the team unbeaten in the tournament so far and they would like to win the trophy and end the ICC trophy drought since 2013. The last time they were in the final of the T20 World Cup they lost to Sri Lanka back in 2014.
It is the redemption time as both teams look for the silverware on Saturday. One team who has come breaking their knockout jinx and another who have been there only a few months back. There will definitely be some amazing battles between the bat and ball on Saturday. In the article we will look at some top player battles to watch out for in T20 World Cup Finals.
Top 3 key player battles to watch out for
3. Heinrich Klaasen vs Kuldeep Yadav
Heinrich Klassen is the best white ball cricketer for the Proteas in recent years. He has turned out to be their most dependable batter in the middle overs of the game. Klassen is an excellent player of spin and has a strike rate of 142.62 against spinners in this competition.
Kuldeep Yadav who has been excellent for the Men in Blue since the game has shifted to West Indies, has been creating problems with his spin mastery for the batters. The Protea wicket-keeper batter has a strike rate of 172.22 against Kuldeep in T20 cricket. The latter is yet to dismiss him.
2. Jasprit Bumrah vs Quinton de Kock
Jasprit Bumrah, once again he has shown the world why he is the best bowler across formats of this era. The Gujarat-born pacer is the second highest wicket taker for the side with 13 wickets beside his name and has been the star for the side once again with the new ball and in the death overs. He sets up according to the pitch and bowls as per the requirements of the same.
The South African openers will need to tackle him well. Bumrah has a decent record against Quinton de Kock as the left-handed opener, has been dismissed once across four T20 meetings. But the speedster bowled with an economy of 3.75 in this competition, with De Kock striking at 158.42. The match-up will be an interesting one.
1. Virat Kohli vs Kagiso Rabada
Virat Kohli has been one of the finest batters of this generation. The 35-year-old’s form in the ongoing tournament has been cold as an opener. He has scored 75 runs in 7 matches with an average of around 11 and a strike of 100. The experienced campaigner’s bat is yet to fire in the tournament. However he has been known playing underpressure in big games for the side.
Kagiso Rabada, who has been in red-hot form in the tournament and has 12 wickets in eight matches and will be looking to turn up the heat on India’s star batter, as he did against Afghanistan in the semi-final. He will look to pick the wicket of Kohli from the top, but the interesting fact is Rabada has ousted Kohli four times in 13 innings, giving away just 51 runs.
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