[Watch] Keshav Maharaj strikes to remove Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant in T20 World Cup 2024 final
South African spinner Keshav Maharaj struck with wickets of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant in the second over of the 2024 T20 World Cup final against Team India. The Kensington Oval in Barbados is hosting the contest (Saturday, June 29). The left-arm spinner got the better of the captain and Rishabh Pant, with the latter registering a duck.
The dismissals occurred in the second over of the innings as Rohit began by cracking two boundaries off the left-arm spinner. The third delivery of the innings saw the right-hander play a sweep. However, he mistimed it and Heinrich Klaasen took an excellent catch at square leg.
Meanwhile, Pant defended the first delivery he faced but got a toe end off the bat while playing the sweep as Quinton de Kock pouched the catch.
The Men in Blue had already got off to a fiery start as Virat Kohli had slammed three boundaries off Marco Jansen in the opening over.
Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first, announcing an unchanged side. Proteas captain Aiden Markram said that he also wanted to bat, given the dryness of the surface, and went in with an unchanged playing XI.
Rohit Sharma top-scored for Team India against Australia and England
The 37-year-old has been in good form in the tournament. He started the multi-nation event with a half-century against Ireland but registered a string of low scores following that. Nevertheless, the Nagpur-born cricketer hit top gear in the fixture against Australia in St. Lucia and against England in Guyana.
The dashing opener slammed a 41-ball 92 against Australia as the inaugural World T20 champions romped to a 24-run win. He went on to clobber a 39-ball 57 in the semi-final against England that eventually culminated in a 68-run triumph.
Meanwhile, South Africa's men's team have reached the World Cup final for the very first time, doing so by demolishing Afghanistan in the semi-final. This is also the first time India and South Africa are meeting in an ICC final.