Champions Trophy final, 2013 – It’s probably the best game ever played between India and England, considering the modern-day era. There was a romance between the bat and the ball which the rain tried to disrupt but in the end, it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s India that clinched the nail-bitter to win their second Champions Trophy title.
Rain shortened the game to 20-over a side and the Indian team was asked to bat first by the Englishmen. The visiting party did not have a great start as they lost the wicket of Rohit Sharma on a score of nine but Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli kept the team afloat by stretching the score past 50. Thanks to Jadeja’s bravura act of 33* in the later part of innings that India 129 in 20 overs.
The only thing that could have saved India was quick wickets blended with perfect line and length. Bowlers kicked off well taking four early wickets but Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan held fort and strengthened England’s position.
Both Morgan and Bopara were acting as a perfect epitome of a ghost, spoiling India’s dream of winning the Champions Trophy but then came a master stroke from Dhoni, who handed the ball to most experienced bowler Ishant Sharma.
Ishant started off with a dot ball followed by a six. Everything was going in England’s favour as two wides followed this six and the next one could have been wide as well but a slower one was good enough to get rid of Morgan. Bopara followed him next and India were right back in the game.
The match went down to the last over with England needing 15 runs to win their maiden Champions Trophy title. Ashwin bowled it as tight as he could and equation came down to six off the last ball. Broad needed to do a Miandad here which he could not as he swung the bat in the air horizontally but it missed the ball completely, handing Champions Trophy to India.
It was a peerless day in Indian cricket. There weren’t even considered favorites before the start of the tournament but the way Dhoni led his young troops, the unexpected had to happen.