Barbados is the venue for Saturday's T20 World Cup Final between South Africa and India, both sides have gone through the tournament unbeaten but the Proteas start as underdogs with the bookmakers
South Africa
South Africa made short work of their semi final clash with Afghanistan in Trinidad on Wednesday. Marco Jansen and Shamsi both took 3 wickets and Rabada and Nortje both took 2 as Afghanistan were bowled out for just 56 in 11.5 overs. Quinton de Kock fell early the reply but Hendricks (29) and Markram (23) took the Proteas into the final with a 9 wicket win.
The Proteas habit of coming through tight finishes to matches continued in their final Super 8 match against West Indies in Antigua earlier this week. They came out on top by 3 wickets in a match where the run chase was reduced to 17 overs and the margin of the DLS victory was 3 wickets. Shamsi with 3/27 was the most successful of the Proteas bowlers as WI were restricted to 135/8 in the full 20 overs. Conditions changed and and the Proteas got in front of the DLS target but wickets began to tumble before they got over the line with 5 balls to spare.
The Proteas come into the final with a 100% record. Earlier Super 8 matches include a thrilling 7 run win over England in St. Lucia where they defended 163/6 where Quinton de Kock (65 off 38) and Miller (43 off 28) stood out. They also beat the USA by 18 runs, posting 194/4 with de Kock top scoring with 74 and Markram made 46. Pool matches delivered wins against Sri Lanka (6 wickets), Netherlands (4 wickets), Bangladesh (4 runs) and Nepal (1 run).
India
Thursday saw India book their ticket to the final with a 68 run win over England in Guyana. Rohit made 57 and Yadav 47 in their bat first total of 171/7, a challenging target on a difficult surface for batting. Spinners Axar Patel (3/23) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/19) were largely responsible for England's reply ending in them being bowled out for 103.
India put paid to Australia's hopes of reaching the semi finals with a 24 run win in St. Lucia on Monday. Rohit Sharma top scored with 92 in their bat first total of 205/5 and Arshdeep Singh took 3/37 as Australia's chase ended on 181/7.
India saw off Bangladesh by 50 runs in their second S8 outing which came in Antigua. They posted 195/5 batting first with Hardik Pandya top scoring, 50 not out and he hit 3 of his sides 13 maximums. Kuldeep Yadav returned figures of 3/19 and there were 2 wickets a piece for Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah as Bangladesh closed on 146/8.
India beat Afghanistan by 47 run in their first Super 8 match in Barbados. Suryakumar Yadav top scored with 53 in their bat first total of 181/8, Afghan were all out for 134 in reply with 3 wickets a piece for Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav struck twice.
Earlier in the pool stage India beat Ireland, Pakistan and USA and their clash with Canada was washed out.
The Betting
At the time of writing South Africa are trading at 1.62/1 to win the game and India are 9/20
Sportingbet price boosts include Markram to make a 50 at 9/2 from 28/10 and Klaasen to hit 3 or more sixes at 11/4 from 2/1.
Prices subject to change
The Verdict
Away from the betting let's hope the Proteas can do it but it's a big ask against this India side who's bowling has been particularly impressive.
As far as the financial interest is concerned Rohit Sharma has scored more runs than any other batsmen on view in the final which makes his price boost to make a 50 stand out.
In the Proteas top wicket taker market I'm taking a chance on the pace Marco Jansen who was excellent against Afghanistan.
Bet: Rohit Sharma to score a 50 was 19/10 now 11/4 Sportingbet
Top South African Wicket Taker Marco Jansen at 4/1 with Sportingbet
More tips are available on this dedicated T20 World Cup thread on our discussion forum
