2014 T20 World Cup Final, 2017 Champions Trophy Final, 2021 & 2023 World Test Championship Final and lastly 2023 ODI World Cup Final. The runner-up team in these five ICC events is only one, India. But for Rohit-Kohli, the number 'six' remained 'lucky' because India did not fail again in the sixth attempt. Rohit Sharma's team won the tournament's second title after 17 years defeating the Protease by 7 runs.
Surya Kumar's dream of winning the Protease' first World Cup was shattered by that one catch. They needed 16 runs off the last over to win. David Miller was on strike. In the last over, Hardik Pandya's first ball was hit hard by Miller. However, Skye's two attempts at the long-off boundary saw the Protease slip away from that remarkable catch and the title. In the end, they scored 8 runs in the remaining five balls. South Africa's innings ended at 169 for 8 and the Rohit-Kohli team won the title by 7 runs.
Meanwhile, Hardik's last two overs contributed greatly to India's victory. After Akshar Patel conceded 23 runs in an over, the Protease' victory equation stood at just 30 runs off 30 balls. Klaassen was advancing there in devastating form. Hardik brought back the right-handed batsman in the 17th over and returned Miller in the last over with aplomb. After the last ball in the innings, Hardik's tears were telling how much he wanted this title.
India's batting innings today revolved around Virat Kohli. Because he returned to the final run keeping the expectations of the captain-coach of the team. He scored the team's maximum 76 runs off 59 balls. Contributing to the team's victory, he won the title of Man of the Match in the final match. And bid farewell to international cricket by holding up the World Cup trophy.
India's win at Kensington Oval started with the toss. Indian captain Rohit Sharma decided to bat first and his team collected a record 176 runs for 7 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs.
In pursuit of that goal, the Protease suffered a big blow at the beginning. They lost 2 wickets at the head of the team's 12 runs. However, de Kock's 58-run partnership for the third wicket with Tristan Stubbs took off a lot of the pressure. There, Stubbs returned for 31 runs, but de Kock was moving forward and settling on the pitch. However, Arshdeep showed this wicketkeeper batsman the way to the dressing room at the head of the team's 106 runs. De Kock scored 39 runs off 31 balls.
Then began Heinrich Klaasen's storm. He picked up a 23-ball fifty and after matching Akshar in that over, South Africa were on the brink of victory. 30 balls were only 30 runs. However, in the last five overs, the Protease could not stand in front of the pace of Bumrah-Arshdeep-Hardik and their collection stopped at 169 runs. Hardik took maximum 3 wickets there. Meanwhile, Arshdeep and Bumrah took two wickets each.
Meanwhile, India got off to a rough start when they came out to bat. 15 runs on the scoreboard in the first over. However, India suffered a big blow in the second over. Rohit and Pant returned to the dressing room within three balls after Keshav Maharaj's double hit. Later, Suryakumar Yadav also increased the pressure on the team's lead by 34 runs.
Kohli handled the initial pressure with Akshar Patel on the day of his return to the form of the season. A well-timed partnership of 72 runs was made for the fourth wicket. There, Akshar returned with 47 runs off 31 balls, but Kohli continued to move forward. After the team's 163, the right-handed batsman caught Jansen's ball in Rabada's hand. In the end Shivam Dubey played a cameo of 27 runs off 16 balls. And with this, India reached the World Cup final record of 176 runs. Maharaj and Norkia took two wickets each for the Proteas.
Summary Score-
India: 176/7 in 20 overs (Rohit 9, Kohli 76, Pant 0, Suryakumar 3, Aksar 47, Dubey 27, Pandya 5, Jadeja 2; Jansen 4-0-49-1, Maharaj 3-0-23-2, Rabada 4-0-36-1, Markram 2-0-16-0, Norkia 4-0-26-2, Shamsi 3-0-26-0)
South Africa: 169/8 in 20 overs (Hendricks 4, de Kock 39, Markram 4, Stubbs 31, Clausen 52, Miller 21, Jansen 2, Maharaj 2*, Rabada 4, Norkia 1*; Arshdeep 4-0-20-2 , Bumrah 4-0-18-2, Aksar 4-0-49-1, Kuldeep 4-0-45-0, Pandya 3-0-20-3, Jadeja 1-0-12-0)
Result: India won by 7 runs
Final Best: Virat Kohli
Man of the tournament: Jasprit Bumrah.