India wins toss, elects to bat against South Africa in T20 World Cup final
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) — India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat against South Africa on Saturday in the Twenty20 World Cup final between the two unbeaten teams of the tournament.
Both teams went unchanged and banked on their tried and tested lineups.
South Africa is eyeing its maiden ICC title while India, which won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007, hasn’t won a major trophy for a decade.
Both teams had emphatic victories in the semifinals as India knocked out defending champion England with a 68-run win in Guyana and South Africa blew away Afghanistan for 56 runs in Trinidad.
Sharma wanted his team to stay calm in the final and “play like it’s an international match against a top team.”
“It’s just about understanding the individual role and just stay calm and composed,” Sharma said at the toss. “South Africa have played really good cricket in this tournament (and) we have played really good cricket too, (so) two quality teams.”
South Africa captain Aiden Markram said his team will be “striving for a perfect game” after getting over the line in close games during the early stages of the tournament.
“At times probably not been at our best, but we’ve found a way to win,” Markram said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity. (There’s) no pressure on us, we’ve never been in a final. You can’t win a trophy if you aren’t in the final.”
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Lineups:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (captain), David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket