South Africa suffered a heartbreaking seven-run defeat at the hands of India in the T20 World Cup 2024 final in Barbados on Saturday (June 29).

The Proteas lost a match that they should have won, imploding with the bat in their chase of 177. They brought the equation down to 30 off 30 deliveries with six wickets in hand but were not able to handle nerves in the death overs.

While Indian bowlers were credited for the rescue act, a tactic from captain Rohit Sharma and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant went unnoticed, something that was highlighted by former India head coach Ravi Shastri on commentary.

When South Africa needed 26 off the last 24, with rampaging Heinrich Klaasen in readiness to smash the next next bowler to seal victory, Pant called for a medical time-out. The physio came to the ground and put some tape around his knee.

However, Shastri felt that the Men in Blue were only trying to slow down the game. "India doing everything possible, even slow down the game so that they can break the rhythm of these two explosive batters," he said on-air.

Once the play resumed, India got the success straightway as Klaasen was dismissed by Hardik Pandya, which also triggered South Africa's lower-order collapse.

Jasprit Bumrah got rid of Marco Jansen in the next over, while Hardik claimed two more wickets in the final over to break India’s 11-year-long ICC trophy jinx.