2 days Ago
Bridgetown, Barbados: Fans began arriving at Kensington Oval in bright sunshine on Saturday ahead of the T20 World Cup final between India and South Africa. The final concludes a near month-long tournament and features two teams who have been unbeaten throughout the competition. The possibility of stormy weather over the weekend, with some rain forecast for Saturday, had raised concerns among organisers but as early arrivals began taking their seats there was no sign of precipitation.
The 28,000-capacity venue, regarding by many as the spiritual home of West Indies cricket, is expected to be sold out with many Indian fans travelling from afar for the match. The toss is scheduled for 10.00am local (1400 GMT) and even if some showers pass through, the expectation is that the reserve date of Sunday will not be necessary.
A tournament which has been a mixed bag in terms of quality, entertainment and attendances has certainly succeeded in setting up a final between the two best teams in the shortest format. India crushed defending champions England by 68 runs in Guyana on Thursday, the day after South Africa thrashed Afghanistan by nine wickets in Trinidad to end a long and agonising wait for a title game. Since entering World Cups in 1991, following the end of apartheid, South Africa had lost seven semi-finals in the two short formats.
This will be South Africa's first senior men's final since the inaugural Champions Trophy in Bangladesh in 1998 when the Proteas beat the West Ind.
