Another excellent over from the South African perspective. Kagiso Rabada concedes only three runs in his first over.

You have got to feel for Kohli here. On that one day he is striking the ball well, he finds India stuck in a precarious position. Another wicket here could prove to be fatal for India.

India: 26/3 after 3 overs.

WICKET AGAIN!

Calamity strikes for India. Two wickets in the same over for South Africa. Rishabh Pant goes for a sweep but ends up toe-ending it to the gloves of Quinton de Kock. Keshav Maharaj is doing wonders for South Africa.

India: 23/2 after 2 overs.

WICKET!

Just when it seemed India had gotten off to a dream start, South Africa have brought the men in blue back to the harsh grounds of reality. Two boundaries had already been hit in this over, but Rohit Sharma went for a third and found Heinrich Klaasen at square leg.

India: 23/1.

South Africa have been dealt with a hammerblow! Rohit Sharma starts the second over, bowled by Keshav Maharaj, with two consecutive boundaries past the short third.

It is the same old Ro-Ko opening pair of India. Marco Jansen will bowl the first over for South Africa.

And there you go! Kohli hits an exquisite drive to hit a boundary in the first delivery that he played.

Another four! This one was sliding down the pads, Kohli flicked it towards the square leg region.

And would you believe it? A stunning straight drive to end the over with another boundary. 15 runs came from the first over!

India: 15/0 after 1 over.

Rise up for the national anthems!

Jana Gana Mana first, followed by the 1997-adopted national anthem of South Africa.

Before even a ball is bowled in this match, it will be safe to say India have an early advantage, for this pitch favours the teams batting first. All the matches won the chasing teams in Barbados featured an uneven contest in terms of strength on paper, with the chasing teams being comparatively much stronger than the team batting first – Namibia over Oman (match went into Super Over), Scotland over Namibia, West Indies over USA, and England over USA.

Along expected lines, both India & South Africa have decided not to tinker with their winning combinations. And hence, neither teams have made any changes to their playing XIs.

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.

South Africa Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi.

And the first battle is won by India! Captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss, and India will be batting first in the final. Huge advantage for the Indians!

“I know it’s a big occassion, but it’s important to remain calm and play it like it’s another international game against a good team. South Africa have played good cricket,” Rohit said after the toss.

A relaxed South African captain Aiden Markram, who wanted to bat first as well, said “There’s absolutely no pressure on us. We’ve never been in a final and we just want to enjoy it and give our best.”

Here’s what India’s journey to the summit clash looks like:

Beat Ireland by 8 wickets in New York

Beat Pakistan by 6 runs in New York

Beat USA by 7 wickets in New York

Beat Afghanistan by 47 runs in Barbados

Beat Bangladesh by 50 runs in Antigua

Beat Australia by 24 runs in St Lucia

Beat England by 68 runs in Guyana

As he approaches his final assignment with the Indian team, coach Rahul Dravid lavished praise on captain Rohit Sharma’s tactical brilliance and expressed unwavering support for the talismanic Virat Kohli despite his recent dip in form during the tournament.

Find out everything the coach had to say on the eve of the final by clicking here.

Both India and South Africa have reached the title clash as unbeaten teams.

A victory for India would serve as a fitting farewell to Rahul Dravid’s tenure as head coach. For South Africa, who last won the 1998 ICC Knock-Out (then known as the Champions Trophy), the final presents the perfect opportunity to give their country the joy of winning the silverware.

As we gear up for this thrilling showdown in the Caribbean, click here to take a look at five key player battles that shouldn’t miss.

The two sides have faced each other six times in T20 World Cup history, with India holding the upper hand in their head-to-head encounters.

Number of matches played: 6

India won: 4 times

South Africa won: 2 times

Number of matches played: 26

India won: 14 times

South Africa won: 11

What does the weather forecast say?

Whilst it did rain last night in Bridgetown, Barbados, the weather has cleared up this morning. Currently, the sun is out and shining brightly, and it seems rain will not be an intruder in today’s final.

India vs South Africa Live Score, T20 World Cup 2024 Final: 11 years, 10 tournaments, 0 trophies.

When India won the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, beating England on English soil, it seemed that the team will usher into an era of bountiful rewards. It was India’s third ICC trophy in 7 years, following the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup.

And here we are, in big 2024, with India not having added to their collection of ICC trophies ever since. Over the last 11 years, the team has participated in 10 ICC tournaments, and have been agonisingly close to winning three of those, but glory always remained elusive.

Who we have on the opposition box? South Africa, who, let alone winning, have never played in the final of a World Cup. The Proteas played seven World Cup semi-finals, and lost all of those, until they arrived in the West Indies for this tournament. Their only ICC triumph remains the KnockOut Trophy victory, way back in 1998.

So, the narrative has been set. It is the perennial underachievers vs the underachievers from the past decade. One of them will break the jinx today.

Who will it be? We will know in about five hours. Stay with us!