The 2024 T20 World Cup ended with India winning the championship. They beat South Africa in an exciting final in Bridgetown. The tournament was held in June 2024, hosted by the West Indies and USA. It lasted 29 days and featured 55 matches.
In the final match, India played against South Africa. It was a close game, but India won in the end.
Throughout the tournament, India, South Africa, and other teams, including smaller cricket nations, played very well.
Some memorable moments included Virat Kohli’s important batting in the final, Suryakumar Yadav’s amazing catch, Lockie Ferguson’s excellent performance against Papua New Guinea, and the USA’s successful first appearance in the Super Eight stage.
Now that the 2024 T20 World Cup is over, let’s look back at the top five moments from the tournament.
5. USA beat Pakistan in a mouth-watering clash
During the first week of the 2024 T20 World Cup, the new USA team, also hosting the event, surprised everyone by beating Pakistan. In Dallas, USA bowled well to stop Pakistan from scoring too many runs, limiting them to 159. Nosthush Kenjige took three wickets, and Saurabh Netravalkar took two.
In a close game, USA matched Pakistan’s 159 runs, with captain Monank Patel scoring fifty. In an exciting super over after a tie, USA scored 18 runs while Pakistan struggled, securing a historic win thanks to Netravalkar’s excellent bowling.
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4. Gulbadin Naib’s ‘injury’ against Bangladesh
During a tense match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh, there was a dispute. Afghanistan’s Gulbadin Naib was accused of faking an injury. The game was paused due to rain with Afghanistan slightly ahead in the 12th over of Bangladesh’s turn to bat. Naib suddenly fell on the ground, holding his leg, just after Afghanistan’s coach Jonathan Trott signaled for the players to slow down.
Physiotherapists came onto the field to check on Naib during the rain break. After a short delay, the match continued. Interestingly, Naib later returned to bowl and even took a wicket. Despite these incidents, Afghanistan won the match. However, Naib faced accusations of ‘cheating’ to help his team win.
3. Pat Cummins’s double hat-trick surge
Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins took three wickets in a row against Bangladesh during the 2024 T20 World Cup on June 20 in Antigua. He got Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, and Towhid Hridoy out in consecutive deliveries. Even though Cummins did well, Australia only allowed Bangladesh to score 140-8.
Just two days later, Cummins got another hat-trick against Afghanistan in Kingstown. Sadly, Australia lost the match even though he played very well.
Cummins became the second Australian cricketer, after Brett Lee, to take a hat-trick in a T20 World Cup when he did it against Bangladesh. His back-to-back hat-tricks also made him the first cricketer from a Test-playing country to do this amazing thing.
2. Afghanistan qualifies for the semifinals, eliminating Australia’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign
Afghanistan wanted to get back at Australia after losing to them in the 2023 World Cup. They beat Australia in a tough match on June 22 in Kingstown.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran each scored 50 runs to help Afghanistan reach 148-6 when they batted first. Their fast bowlers, especially Naveen-ul-Haq and Gulbadin Naib, bowled very well to restrict Australia to 127 runs.
This win of 21 runs against Australia was historic. Along with a thrilling victory over Bangladesh, it helped Afghanistan reach the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
1. India end 11-year ICC title draught
India had been close to winning ICC titles several times but hadn’t won one since they won the Champions Trophy in 2013. After a sad loss in the 2023 World Cup final, India came back strong in the 2024 T20 World Cup. They reached the final without losing a match and played against South Africa in Barbados. India scored 176-7, with Virat Kohli, Axar Patel, and Shivam Dube making important contributions. South Africa looked set to win, but India’s bowlers made a great comeback, defending 30 runs in the last five overs. Led by Rohit Sharma, India won by seven runs, ending their 11-year wait for an ICC trophy.
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