Virat Kohli Leads India to a Heart-Stopping Loss in the 2020 World Cup Final

In the final of the Twenty20 World Cup, South Africa led India 176-7 against Virat Kohli and his team in Bridgetown, Barbados. Kohli struggled in previous matches but scored a critical 76 runs off 59 balls with six boundaries and two sixes after India found themselves in trouble at 34-3 in the first five overs. Axar Patel came in at No. 5 and played a quick innings of 47 runs off 31 balls, including four sixes, and shared a vital 72-run partnership with Kohli to stabilize the Indian innings.

Kohli completed his half-century in the 17th over and then accelerated by hitting impressive sixes against Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen. However, Kohli was caught in the deep in the penultimate over, while Shivam Dube also made a useful contribution of 27 runs off 16 balls before being dismissed in the final over by Anrich Nortje as India scored just one run in their last three overs.

India started strong with Rohit Sharma hitting three boundaries in the first over, but they were soon caught up by South African bowling as Maharaj struck twice in his first over, dismissing Sharma and Pant while attempting reverse sweeps. Suryakumar Yadav was caught by Quinton de Kock at deep fine leg off Rabada’s bowling before Patel and Kohli rebuilt the Indian innings from scratch. Unfortunately, Patel was run out due to a brilliant throw by de Kock that intercepted Kohli’s flick and hit the stumps at non-striker’s end before he could make it to safety.

The match saw no changes from either team since their semifinals encounter, with South Africa aiming for their first ICC title ever while India looked forward to securing their first major trophy after a wait of thirteen years.