India elect to bat in World Cup final against S Africa
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India captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and elected to bat in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup against South Africa at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.
The summit clash on Saturday features the 20-team tournament’s two unbeaten sides and both have fielded unchanged sides for the match.
India won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2007 but are without a global title since 2013, while South Africa have made the final of a World Cup in any format for the first time.
Both teams had emphatic victories in the semi-finals as India knocked out defending champions England with a 68-run win in Guyana and South Africa blew away Afghanistan by 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. No pressure on us, we’ve never been in a final. You can’t win a trophy if you aren’t in the final.”
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (captain), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi.
Reuters
