Flashback: 2007 T20 World Cup final – A thrilling spectacle
India had played only one T20 international match prior to the T20 World Cup 2007 in South Africa and were drafted in Group D with their arch-rivals Pakistan and Scotland. India’s group-stage match against Pakistan was tied and the winner was decided on the bowl-out method. India declared the winner after the bowlers hit the stumps on first three deliveries as their opponent failed to hit the target. Both teams featured better in the next round and topped the respective group tables with impressive displays.
India beat Australia and Pakistan defeated New Zealand in semi-final fixtures to set a mouth-watering final clash against each other at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on September 24.
Indian captain MS Dhoni won the crucial toss and elected to bat first in the final game. India lost their opener Yusuf Pathan on 15 runs in the third over on Mohammad Asif’s delivery. Robin Uthappa, playing at No. 3 position, was dismissed by Sohail Tanvir in the sixth over and India were struggling at 40/2 at the end of powerplay overs.
Then Yuvraj Singh, the hero from the last two matches, and opener Gautam Gambhir posted a crucial 63-run partnership for the third wicket to keep India on track for a big total. But in-form pacer Umar Gul took three big wickets of Yuvraj, Gambhir, and Dhoni to put Pakistan ahead. Rohit Sharma smashed unbeaten 30 runs off 16 balls to help India to score a respectable total of 157/5 in 20 overs.
Pakistan lost their star opener Mohammad Hafeez on just one run in the first over on right-arm pacer RP Singh’s delivery. RP bowled out wicketkeeper batter Kamran Akmal on a duck in the innings’ third over to put India in complete control of the match. But opener Imran Nazir and star batter Younis Khan pulled off a small but crucial 27-run partnership for the third wicket to keep Pakistan’s hope alive in the game.
India’s bowling all-rounder Irfan Pathan dominated the middle overs with three crucial wickets of Pakistani captain Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, and Yasir Arafat. But veteran batter Misbah-ul-Haq dragged Pakistan closer to the target with sensible batting from the other end. Pakistan needed 13 runs from the last six balls with a wicket in hand and Misbah and Asif in the middle.
Indian right-arm pacer Joginder Sharma, who conceded only 13 runs from his first three overs, bowled the last over. Joginder started with a wide and conceded a big six from Misbah on the second delivery.
Pakistan needed only six runs off the last four balls and fans were already celebrating. But Misbah got caught out by Sreesanth at short fine on the third delivery and Pakistan’s innings ended at 152, with a narrow five-run win for India. Irfan won the player of the match award for his 3/16 spell and Afridi won the player of the tournament for scoring 92 runs and taking 12 wickets.
