Following four weeks of intense action, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 boils down to the two finalists, India and South Africa. The two teams will look to give it their all when they face off at Bridgetown, Barbados on June 29.
Today we bring you the best team market bets to place on this mega clash, but before that, let’s rewind how the tournament hosted in the United States and the Caribbean panned out.
As many as 20 teams started in four groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the Super Eight. These eight teams were then split into two groups, leading to India and Afghanistan from Group 1, and South Africa and England from Group 2, reaching the semi-finals.
It will be a contest between two best teams of the tournament, as both India and South Africa have been undefeated across the group stage and Super Eight.
The men in blue topped their group in the first round with three wins, including a nail-biting seven-run victory over Pakistan. In the Super Eight, India hammered Afghanistan by 47 runs, and followed it up with a 50-run drubbing of Bangladesh before beating Australia by 24 runs.
Rohit Sharma’s men then took a revenge of the previous T20 World Cup by smashing England in the semi-finals by 68 runs. Rohit Sharma (57 off 39) and Suryakumar Yadav (47 off 36) played magnificent knocks to help India get 171 on a difficult pitch before Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav snared three wickets each.
The Proteas reached their first-ever final in an ICC tournament with eight victories on the trot. After topping the table in the group phase with four wins, South Africa defeated the USA, England, and West Indies in Super Eight. They were in a virtual knockout against West Indies, and they emerged victorious by three wickets on DLS method.
Their semi-final clash against Afghanistan was a one-sided affair as they demolished the opponents by nine wickets. Tabraiz Shamsi and Marco Jansen picked three wickets each to bundle out Afghanistan for just 56 before Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram steered them home.
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India to win
India to beat South Africa at odds of 1.50 (Parimatch)
These two rivals had shared the last bilateral T20 series by 1-1 but India hold the advantage at the T20 World Cup, having won four encounters compared to two by South Africa.
The men in blue have a deadly spin combination of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja, who enjoy bowling on slow pitches. They also have the best in the world Jasprit Bumrah and in-form Arshdeep Singh in the pace unit. In the batting unit, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya have been in excellent touch.
South African batters, on the other hand, haven’t performed at their best and facing the Indian bowling attack will be a huge challenge. Their bowlers have done well on difficult pitches but Barbados is a decent venue.
Looking at all the factors, you can back India to win this match at odds of 1.50 on Parimatch.
Most runs in first 6 overs – India
India to score the most runs in the powerplay at odds of 1.60 (22Bet)
If we look at the data from the ongoing tournament, South Africa have performed slightly better in the powerplay, conceding at 5.70 rpo compared to 6.19 by India. But the Indian batting unit has been much better, scoring at 7.80 rpo as opposed to 6.55 by South African batters.
India have a solid top four of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav. Sharma is coming off a stunning 92 off 41 against Australia and 57 off 39 versus England, while Suryakumar struck 47 off 36 in the previous game. South African top order, on the other hand, has been struggling more. You can bet on India to score the most runs in the powerplay at 1.60 on 22Bet.
India to score over 49.5 runs in the first 6 overs
India to score over 49.5 runs in the first six overs at odds of 1.85 (22Bet)
The men in blue have employed an aggressive approach under the leadership of Rohit Sharma and they have stuck to it even in the big games. They scored 46 runs in the powerplay in the semi-final on a pitch that was very difficult to bat on.
Barbados is a much better venue for batting and the Indian top order should do well here. Betting on India to score over 49.5 runs in the powerplay at odds of 1.85 on 22Bet could be a good move.
Most sixes in the match – India
India to hit the most number of sixes in the match at odds of 1.70 (20Bet)
Looking at how the two teams have performed in the competition, India have been the better batting unit with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya amongst runs. On paper, South Africa have a destructive batting line-up but their batters have struggled on these tricky pitches.
Rohit Sharma and co. have smashed 54 sixes in seven innings in this tournament whereas Aiden Markram’s men have hit 35 sixes in eight innings. Betting on India to hit the most number of sixes at odds of 1.70 on 20Bet seems like a good idea.
South Africa to hit over 6.5 sixes
South Africa to hit over 6.5 sixes in the match at odds of 1.94 (Parimatch)
The Proteas batters haven’t had a great tournament but one of the main reasons for that is they have consistently played on treacherous pitches barring a couple of games.
They have some terrific hitters in Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs and David Miller. Barbados has decent pitches and their batters could do a better job. Take a punt on South Africa to hit over 6.5 sixes at odds of 1.94 on Parimatch.
- Plenty of sports to choose from
- Live streaming is offered on selected sports
- Very competitive odds
- Spectacular welcome bonus
- Plenty of sports to choose from
- Live streaming is offered on selected sports
- Very competitive odds
- Spectacular welcome bonus