Rishabh Pant made history in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa by becoming the first Indian batsman to be dismissed for a duck in the prestigious tournament's ultimate match. Pant's innings lasted only two balls before he was caught behind by Quinton de Kock off Keshav Maharaj's bowling attempt to play a sweep shot.
Pant walked in after the dismissal of Rohit Sharma in the second over. India was left reeling at 23 for two after two overs, with Maharaj claiming two big wickets. The previous lowest total by an Indian player in a T20 World Cup final was Ajinkya Rahane's three off eight balls against Sri Lanka in the 2014 final in Dhaka.
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first in the final. The Proteas advanced to the final with a dominant nine-wicket win over Afghanistan, ending their dream campaign. India reached the final by defeating England by 68 runs, avenging their loss in the 2022 semifinals.
Rohit Sharma's team has dominated the tournament, defeating heavyweights like Australia, Pakistan, and England. In contrast, South Africa narrowly avoided defeat several times, with close calls against Bangladesh and Nepal in the group stage. They almost faced elimination in their final Super 8 match against the West Indies but secured a three-wicket win thanks to Marco Jansen.
After winning the toss, Rohit Sharma said, "We're going to bat first; it looks like a good pitch. We've played one game here, and the scores have been really good. It's important to remain calm and play it like it's another international game. South Africa have played some good cricket, but so have we. It's going to be a really good game between two quality teams."
South Africa captain Aiden Markram said, "Would've batted first as well; it looks dry. But we get first crack with the ball, so hopefully, we can do well. There's absolutely no pressure on us; we've never been in a final and we just want to enjoy it and be at our best."
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
South Africa Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
