Virat Kohli's resilient half-century steered India to a competitive 176 against South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup in Kingstown.

The match began with a bang, as Rohit Sharma's aggressive intent yielded 15 runs in the first over. However, Keshav Maharaj's double strike in the second, removing Rohit and Rishabh Pant, shifted the momentum towards South Africa.

Suryakumar Yadav's early dismissal further compounded India's woes, leaving Kohli and Axar Patel to rebuild the innings. Before their partnership, India also Suryakumar Yadav to Kagiso Rabad. Kohli, adopting an uncharacteristically cautious approach, focused on accumulating runs while Axar played the aggressor.

South Africa's disciplined bowling, particularly from Tabraiz Shamsi and Marco Jansen, restricted the scoring rate through the middle overs. But Kohli's experience and composure shone through, as he reached a hard-fought fifty.

Axar's run-out, courtesy of Quinton de Kock's quick thinking, triggered a mini-collapse, but Kohli's late flourish, along with Shivam Dube, propelled India past 170.

Kohli's innings, while not his most fluent, proved crucial in setting a defendable total. The Indian star batter ended up on 76 off 59 balls with six fours and two sixes. Three of India’s top four batters were dismissed for one-digit total. However, Kohli’s innings helped them built a challenging total.

For South Africa, Maharaj and Anrich Nortje took two wickets each.

If India can defend this total, it would be their second T20 World Cup title, in contrast, if South Africa can chase it down, they will be the first-time winner of a world title. They never played a World Cup final before.