India wins the toss and elects to bat against South Africa in the T20 World Cup final

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) — Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat against South Africa on Saturday in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup between the tournament’s two undefeated teams.

Both teams remained unchanged and benefited from their proven lineups.

South Africa is eyeing its first ICC title while India, who won the first T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007, have not won a major trophy in a decade.

Both teams recorded convincing victories in the semi-finals, with India beating reigning champions England by 68 runs in Guyana and South Africa beating Afghanistan by 56 runs in Trinidad.

Sharma wanted his team to remain calm in the final and “play as if it was an international match against a top team.”

“It’s about understanding the individual role and just staying calm and collected,” Sharma said at the toss. “South Africa have played really good cricket in this tournament (and) we’ve played really good cricket too, (so) two quality teams.”

South Africa captain Aiden Markram said his team will be aiming for a “perfect match” after coming out on top in close games in the early stages of the tournament.

“We probably weren’t at our best at times, but we found a way to win,” Markram said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity. There is no pressure on us, we have never been in a final. You can’t win a trophy if you’re not in the final.”

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (captain), David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi.