Sunday 23 June 2013

ICC Champions Trophy 2013 - Final

23 Jun 2013

ICC Champions Trophy 2013 - Final
(England vs India at Birmingham)

Cool India steal title in 20-20 sprint

India vs England
129/7 (20/20) 124/8 (20/20)
India won by 5 runs
Photo © BCCI

Pinch yourself again and again. This match was completely out of the realms of reality. After the ICC - who hadn't considered it fit to have a reserve day for the final - added 75 minutes to the rainy day to accommodate 20 overs in the final, both sides panicked in the compressed environment; Ravi Bopara was the bowling demon for England; India defended 129 with slip, gully and silly point for spinners; Ishant Sharma, the most expensive bowler, was the first to bowl out and took two crucial wickets in his last over; and MS Dhoni led superbly to become the first captain in the world to have won all ICC trophies.

The only aspects of this game remotely real were the effectiveness of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, and the early fluency of Shikhar Dhawan and Jonathan Trott. Around them, everything went topsy-turvy. The pitch turned square, despite all his efficiency Jadeja didn't attempt a crucial run-out, the third umpire seemed to make a big dubious call with Ian Bell's stumping, but then again there was Dhoni making a superlative call under pressure.

Cool India steal title in 20-20 sprint (espncricinfo): Read More >>
Photo © BCCI

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