On this day in 2007: When India won the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup
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India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the final to win the inaugural edition of the ICC T20 World Cup.
It has been 17 years since MS Dhoni and his boys defeated Pakistan in a crunch game at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg to win the first edition of the ICC T20 World Cup.
Before entering the tournament, India suffered a disappointing group stage exit from the ICC ODI World Cup 2007. Entering the T20 World Cup 2007, the Indian side was without some of their experienced players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid.
This gave a chance to a new captain, MS Dhoni, who led a young team. At that time, T20 cricket was relatively a new format for Men in Blue. India didn’t play many matches before the start of the T20 World Cup 2007. India weren’t even considered favourites to win the tournament.
India’s journey to the T20 World Cup 2007 title
India’s first group stage match of the tournament against Scotland was abandoned due to rain in Durban. The MS Dhoni-led side then faced arch-rivals Pakistan in their second group stage match at the same venue in Durban. The thrilling clash was tied after both teams made 141 runs.
The match was then decided by a tie-breaker called “bowl out.” The Men in Blue held their nerve to win the bowl out 3-0. This match set the tone for India’s campaign for the rest of the tournament.
One of the standout performances came for India during the Super 8 clash against England. Yuvraj Singh created history by smashing six sixes in an over against Stuart Broad. Yuvraj’s explosive innings helped Men in Blue post 218 runs. In the end, England lost the clash by 18 runs.
The Dhoni-led side’s semi-final clash was against the mighty Australia. Yuvraj once again played a blistering knock of 70 runs, which guided his side to a competitive 188 runs.
While defending the total, Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, and Joginder Sharma scalped two wickets each as India won the match by 15 runs and reached the grand finale of the T20 World Cup 2007.
The final showdown against arch-rivals Pakistan
The T20 World Cup 2007 final match was played on 24 September 2007 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg between India and Pakistan. This match was a true nail-biter for the Indian cricket team.
Indian opener Gautam Gambhir played a fighting knock and scored 75 runs off 54 deliveries, which guided his side to a 157-5 in 20 overs. Pakistan seamer Umar Gul took three wickets.
While chasing, Pakistan got off to a horrible start. They lost Mohammed Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, and Imran Nazir inside the first seven overs.
In middle overs, Pakistan’s middle-order struggled against India’s bowling attack. By the time Shahid Afridi was dismissed, they were 77/6 after the end of the first 12 overs.
However, Mishabh’s counter-attacking game gave hope to the Pakistan side. He attacked off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, hitting him for three sixes in the 17th over.
In the next over, Sohail Tanveer slammed two crucial sixes against speedster Sreesanth before getting out on the final delivery of the over. In the last two overs, 20 runs were needed with Mishabh-ul-Haq still on the crease.
RP Singh bowled the 19th over of Pakistan’s innings. The left-arm seamer just conceded seven runs and also took the wicket of Umar Gul. India then had 13 runs to defend in the final over.
Indian captain MS Dhoni handed the ball to seamer Joginder Sharma to bowl the most crucial over of the final. Joginder started the over with a wide and then a dot ball. On the second delivery of the over, Mishabh slammed a huge six and then brought down the equation to just six runs from four balls.
What happened next became part of every Indian cricket fan. On the third delivery, Mishabh attemped a cheeky scoop shot over a short fine leg, hoping to seal the victory. But the shot lacked elevation, and Sreesanth at short fine leg took the catch.
Mishabh was left heartbroken as Indian celebrated a famous five-run victory.
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