T20 World Cup, June 1-29

[Durhamfootman]

Fine bowler

India will be mightily pleased that he isn't retiring. He holds everything together and he's completely reliable

[Durhamfootman]

Did SA choke?

Well done India. Worthy winners.

Since it is SA , the "C" word will be one everyone's lips. But that may be a little unfair to India , I think.

I say this as someone who hasn't seen a ball bowled in this tournament, but with 26 needed from the final four overs and 4 down, 9 times out of 10 in any T20 match that doesn't even go to the last over. I have no doubt that India bowled well, but from the point they lost Klaasen, SA scored 17-3 in 23 balls...... that smacks of panic to me.

and I know what a team panicking in that situation looks like, because I've watched Durham do it, at least 3 times a season, for 21 years

[Durhamfootman]

I don't watch that much T20 cricket, in truth, but I know what a team crumbling under the pressure looks like.... it's Durham's USP; their raison d'etre

[meninblue]

Did SA choke?

Well done India. Worthy winners.

SA needed 26 from 24 balls with 6 wickets left. The wicket did not offer enough for the bowlers. Also, with experienced players like Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller plus Marco Jansen who has the ability to bat in all formats and score 26 runs all by himself, these three should have finished it without taking help of runs from South African bowlers. I had lost hopes of India winning from that position. But cricket too is full of uncertainties, so maybe we can say they choked or India made a comeback. Depends how we perceive the game which can be full of swings. If India could win the historic test, following-on against Australia in 2011 at Eden Gardens (Kolkata) where VVS scored 281 against the best team that Australia ever fielded, the comeback was also possible keeping that perspective. We never say Australia choked because Australia wins major trophies frequently. Because it is South Africa we do not consider that a comeback is possible by their opponents and they get tagged as choker. India also made comeback against Pakistan defending 119 and now defending a total of 176 which was 15 runs less imo. India were certainly short of runs and SA were well placed needing 26 from 24 balls with 6 wickets left. But these swings have happened in uncountable matches before in cricketing history in much worse situations. It's just that SA does has not major trophy in their cupboard gives a impression that SA choke. Anyways, whether SA choked or not is debatable as always but i am happy. We just needed a trophy and we got it.

I guess their plan was to see that Jasprit's over which was his last and then chase against Arshdeep who does bowl full toss and Hardik who is not regular bowler. But then they could not score against Arshdeep who sometimes bowls one or three full toss an over. They could not score runs against Arshdeep and their plan failed and runs to ball difference increased further and the gap of dot balls in Jasprit's over could not be reduced. Credit has to go to Arshdeep, he was the target but he just gave 4 runs taking total run difference between bat and bowl to 10 runs i.e SA needing 16 from 6.

But surely SA too needed atleast one World Cup win like any other major cricketing nation. We criticize our players if we dont win WC for so many years, but here is South Africa who has not won anything for decades. I wonder if another failure in major tournament drives fans away from South African cricket. Or maybe cricket is not their number one game and they must be winning in some other sport so their fans won't bother what happens in cricket like we don't bother how India fails in football. We accept failure in football as cricket is our number one game and hence even if we lose all matches no Indian footballer is criticized or selection isn't even point of discussion, maybe likewise SA fans accept failure in cricket? India needed to win WC in what is our number one sport.

[sussexpob]

Pressure has a way of forcing people to take that extra moment they dont have. Its a time worn cliche of cricket that I would often want to avoid repeating, but I am not sure I can be generous to SA - they had got into a "bookies stop accepting bets position" with 1 run a ball required over 4-5 overs and two good batsman at the crease, and somehow lost.

We can credit India, especially Bumrah, for bowling well. But it felt like as soon as the moment required someone to stand up and take the game by the balls, South Africa retreated into their shell. Bumrah came on for his 3rd over and SA hesitated. And then it got progressively worse as the dot balls mounted, they only really came out of that shell when there was no other choice... 2-3 overs passed in the meantime where an easy win turned into a crushing loss.

Its these types of moments that make champions. When the game hung in the balance, India forced South Africa to blink.

[Gingerfinch]

I haven't seen any of this world cup so feel I shouldn't really comment BUT 26 off 4 overs with 6 wickets left? Same old South Africa. You can't even say it's a national problem as their Rugby team seem to step up when the world cup comes around.
Anyway, well done India