“A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound.” That is how the online dictionaries define this phenomenon. In Bridgetown in Barbados, this was the explosion which won India the T20 World Cup final in a nail-biter of a final against a valiant South Africa.
Jasprit Bumrah had to be at his ultimate best to tilt this. South Africa had done the hard work and were dancing towards victory, with 30 to get off 30 balls and six wickets standing. India had one last chance and it was Bumrah. He gave away six runs from two overs and turned the match. It was boom, boom, boom and knockout South Africa! The quest for a first ICC trophy after 2013 ended after suspense, but in some style.
Bowlers win tournaments is an age-old saying, and that is what India showed when the final had almost slipped out of their grasp. Heinrich Klaasen had reduced it to a cakewalk almost for South Africa with some insane hitting and India needed magic. It appeared in the form of a person answering to the name Bumrah. What a bowler! A game-changer in a World Cup final from a point of no return.
To be fair to the others, it was not entirely a one-man show. Arshdeep Singh bowled a pivotal 19th over, conceding just four when 20 were needed. Hardik Pandya took the precious wicket of Klaasen and stuck to his guns on a day when the spinners went for plenty. Suryakumar Yadav held a miraculous catch off the first ball of the final over to send back David Miller. All these efforts were equally priceless.
And it was team effort in the end. Virat Kohli came good when India needed someone to anchor the innings after losing far too many wickets early on. Axar Patel contributed an invaluable innings after being promoted to No. 5. Shivam Dube struck some mighty blows towards the end. The total of 176/7 was hard-earned and looked defendable when South Africa lost two inside three overs.
The match took a different turn after that. The spinners India had relied so heavily upon were ripped apart by Klaasen and when 38 were plundered in the 14th and 15th overs, it seemed to be match over. Rohit Sharma had one last throw of the dice and it had to be Bumrah. He duly delivered the two most singularly important overs in the history of T20 World Cup finals.
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