ICC Champions Trophy 2013 was the seventh edition of the tournament. India registered the victory in this tournament under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. The Men in Blue were second time entitled the winners of this tournament as they first time lifted the trophy in 2002 under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly.
India faced the host England in the grand finale of the tournament. In the rain-curtailed match, India was all out for 129 runs as the match was reduced to 20 overs per side. England were favourites to win but Ishant Sharma’s masterstroke at right time led India to lift the trophy.
During the tournament, several records were built by batsmen and bowlers. Here, in this article, we have named the five highest scorers in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. Here, in this article, we have named five highest partnerships of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013
1. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan: 127 runs against South Africa:
India started the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 campaign with winning their first match against South Africa. In that match, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan stitched up a strong partnership and thrashed Proteas bowling line up with the likes of Morne Morkel, JP Duminy and Ryan McLaren.
India was asked to bat first as Rohit and Dhawan opened the innings and set up a 127 runs partnership for the first wicket. It became the highest partnership of the tournament. Interestingly, Rohit was the first time playing as an opener for India and scored 65 off 81 runs before McLaren picked his wicket. Whereas the left-hander Dhawan amassed 114 runs off 94 balls to guide the team to set 332 runs target. Eventually, India won the match by 26 runs.
2. Robin Peterson and AB de Villiers: 124 runs against India
As Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan registered the highest partnership against South Africa, Proteas player Robin Peterson and AB de Villiers registered the second-highest partnership of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 in the same match.
India had set up the target of 332 runs target with the help of Rohit and Dhawan’s 127 run partnership. In reply, South Africa lost the early wickets of the opener but AB de Villiers and Peterson stabilise the innings. They mustered 124 runs partnership before Peterson lost his wicket for 68 runs. Subsequently, the skipper also lost his wicket after scoring 70 runs. After which, Ishant Sharma with his masterpiece dismissed the lower-order batsman and South Africa lost the match by 26 runs.
3. Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell: 111 runs against Australia:
The host England played their first match in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 against Australia. They were the favourites to lift the trophy because of the balanced team as they inaugurated the tournament with the victory.
The mainstay of England team Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell garnered a partnership of 111 runs which helped the team to set up the fighting target of 270 runs. Bell scored 91 runs while Trott scored 43 runs in the match. Their partnership became the third highest in the tournament.
In the end, Australia could not chase down the target and lost the match by 48 runs.
4. Kumar Sangakkara and Nuwan Kulasekara: 110* vs England
Sri Lanka had already lost the first match and they need to win the match against England to be alive in the competition. Then Kumar Sangakkara and Nuwan Kulasekara set up a match-winning knock to lead the team to victory.
At The Oval, England set up the target of 298 runs with the help of Joe Root, Trott and Alastair Cook’s half-centuries. In reply, Sangakkara remained unbeaten and scored 134 runs off 135 balls, striking 12 boundaries. He set up small partnerships with Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kulasekara to led the team to victory. His partnership of 110* runs with Kulasekara became the fourth-highest partnership of ICC Champions Trophy 2013. At last, Sri Lanka won the match by seven wickets.
5. Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik: 109* against West Indies:
Team India’s spinner Ravindra Jadeja demolished West Indies batting line up as he dismissed five batsmen at the economy rate of 3.60. Because of his masterpiece, the Caribbeans were halted to set a huge target as they were all out for 233 runs.
Chasing the below-par target, Shikhar Dhawan went on to play a memorable knock of his career as he garnered 102* runs off 107 balls. He set up 109* runs partnership with Dinesh Karthik, who scored unbeaten 51 runs, to guide the team to consecutive victories. This became the fifth-highest partnership in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.