In this weekend’s blog, I am writing about cricket
Friends you are aware CHAMPIONS TROPHY is presently being held in Pakistan/Dubai. It is a tournament where the top eight ODI teams in the world participate. They are divided into two groups, initially, they play on the league system, and then top two teams from each group qualify for the semi-finals.
Here are some memorable matches from the past Champions Trophy:
1 India vs South Africa 2002
The tournament was held in Sri Lanka. This was a semi-final match. Virender Sehwag was responsible for India winning this match. While batting first, India scored a competitive score of 261/9. Batting second South Africa was cruising at excellent run rate with 200/3 in 41 overs. Then Virender Sehwag created the magic with his off spin bowling and claimed the wickets of Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis and Lance Klusner to seal India’s victory.
In India’s score of 261/9 , Sehwag 59, Rahul Dravid 49 and Yuvraj Singh 62 were main scorers. South Africa replied with 251/6 with Herschelle Gibbs 116 and Jacques Kallis 97. It was Virender Sehwag’s spell of 5 overs for 25 runs with 3 wickets turned the match in India’s favour.
2 India vs New Zealand 2000
Back then this tournament was known as ICC Knockout Trophy, and New Zealand a perennial dark horse were chasing their first ICC title. Batting first India scored 264/6 with Saurav Ganguly 117 and Sachin Tendulkar 69 being main scorers. Chasing 265 in the final, India had New Zealand in trouble at 132/5. In strode Chris Cairns. The all rounder went on to score quick century (102 off 113 balls), and he was ably supported by Chris Harris who scored 46, this paved the way for New Zealand to win their first ICC trophy with 2 balls to spare, in Nairobi.
3 West Indies vs England 2004
This was the final match of the tournament. Batting first England could score only 217 in 49.4 overs, main scorer in the inning was Mark Trescothik, who scored 104 runs. While chasing the modest score of 217 West Indies were in bad shape with the score of 49/3 when Shivnarain Chanderpaul came to crease, after scoring 47 runs he was eighth out when the score was only 147. Still requiring 71 runs for victory with just two wickets in hand, the Oval in London saw the West Indian tailenders lead the fightback. The 9th wicket partnership between Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw paved the way for remarkable run chase. The pit on unbeaten 71 runs as the West Indian successfully chased down England’s 217 with seven deliveries to spare.
4 England vs South Africa 2009
This was a league stage match. England batting first scored 323/8 with Owais Shah 98, Paul Collingwood 82 and Eoin Morgon 67 being the main scorers. Chasing England’s total of 323 started very well, and were 206/4 in 37 overs at one stage with Graeme Smith batting still on crease and batting sensibly. To chase 118 in in next 13 overs still looked possible. But when Smith got out for 141 in 47th over with score at 263/8, then to score 51 runs in 19 balls looked highly impossible, and South Africa could score only 301/9 in their 50 overs.
5 New Zealand vs Sri Lanka 2013
Low-scoring contests can often lead to climatic finishes and that was certainly the case in this match in 2013, when New Zealand pulled off a remarkable one-wicket triumph over Sri Lanka. Not many would have expected Sri Lanka’s low total of 138 to be competitive, but pacer Lasith Malinga had other ideas as he ripped through New Zealand’s middle order to reduce them to 122/8 in reply. Malinga took 4 wickets for 34 runs. With still runs to score for victory, New Zealand tailenders Tim Southee, Kyle mills and Mitchell McClenagon survived and New Zealand romped home with 139 for 9.
6 India vs Pakistan 2007
It was remarkable day at The Oval in London as Pakistan won their first Champions trophy with an emphatic victory over India. Batting first Pakistan scored 338/4 with Fakhar Zaman 114, Babar Azan 46 and Mohd Hafeez 57 were the main scorers. While chasing a target of 339, India were bundled out for 158 in 30.3 overs. Mohd Amir 3 for 16, and Hasan Ali 3 for 19 were Pakistani bowlers who created havoc in India’s batting line up.
This was one of the rare occasion when India lost to Pakistan in ICC tournament.
Waiting for your views on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
21st February 2025