Today's final showdown between India and South Africa in the grand finale of the T20 World Cup 2024 in Barbados will be the ninth final of the showpiece event. 

This will be the first time that the two sides will meet in an ICC final. They did face off in the semifinal of the 2014 edition in which India came out victorious but the Men in Blue lost against the Proteas in the 2022 edition in Australia.

Here we present all that you need to know before the highly-anticipated clash.

INTERESTING FACTS

• It is a historic occasion for South Africa as they will be playing in their first-ever final in ODI or T20 World Cups.
• India have not won a World Cup title since their triumph in the 2011 ODI World Cup at home.
• India are also without an ICC silverware since the 2013 Champions Trophy.
• This is the first time that both T20 World Cup finalists have made it through unbeaten -- South Africa have won all eight matches while India won seven and saw their group game against Canada washed out.
• South Africa skipper Aiden Markram is yet to lose a game while in charge in World Cups. He guided the Proteas to victories in all six matches in the Under-19 World Cup in 2014, won two as a stand-in captain in the 2023 ODI World Cup before marshalling his troops to this World Cup final unbeaten.
• The average first-innings total at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown for completed matches in this World Cup is 150.

Is rain a threat? 

Much like in several fixtures in the tournament, rain could play spoilsport in the final as well, with a tropical storm set to sweep across the island on Saturday according to an information statement issued by the Barbados Meteorological Service. According to AccuWeather, showers are expected and will likely delay the toss and interrupt play later. While there is a 50 percent chance of rain in the morning, it is expected to come down to 30 percent come toss time with the probability jumping back to 50 percent in the afternoon.

• A total of 190 minutes (three hours and 10 minutes) of extra time has been allocated to try to complete the game if it faces rain delays.
• Both sides will need to bat at least 10 overs for a champion to be decided.
• A reserve day (on Sunday) has been allotted if the match cannot be finished on Saturday.
• If the match starts and cannot continue due to inclement weather then it will pick up on the reserve from where it was left off on the previous day.
• A 20 percent chance of rainfall was forecasted for the reserve day.
• If the match cannot be completed on the reserve day, then both sides will be announced as joint-winners.

STAT ATTACK

Venue: Kensington Oval, Barbados
Time: 8:30 pm Bangladesh time

Head-to-head:

India: 14
South Africa: 11
No Result: 1

Head-to-head in T20 World Cups:

India: 4
South Africa: 2

South Africa

T20 world ranking: 5
Best result: Semi-finalists (2009, 2014)
Coach: Rob Walter
Captain: Aiden Markram
Top-ranked batter: Markram (8)
Top-ranked bowler: Anrich Nortje (9)

Road to final (South Africa)

Group-stage: Wins against Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Bangladesh, Nepal

Super 8: Wins against USA, England, West Indies

Semifinal: Win against Afghanistan

India

T20 world ranking: 1
Best result: Champions (2007)
Coach: Rahul Dravid
Captain: Rohit Sharma
Top-ranked batter: Suryakumar Yadav (2)
Top-ranked bowler: Axar Patel (8)

Road to final (India)

Group stage: Wins against Ireland, Pakistan, USA; *Match abandoned against Canada

Super 8: Wins against Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Australia

Semifinal: Win against England