2007 ICC World T20: Group Stage
It was the first T20I meeting for India and Pakistan. In the Group Stage clash at Durban on 14th September 2007, Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik decided to field first. India was under pressure from the very beginning, and they only managed to put 141/9 (20 overs) on the board. While most of the Indian batsmen struggled against the Pakistan bowling line-up, Robin Uthappa scored 50 runs off 39 balls. Also, the captain MS Dhoni (33 runs) and the lower-middle-order batsman Irfan Pathan (20 runs) made some significant contributions with their bats.
Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif bowled superbly in that innings as his bowling figures were 4-0-18-4.
In reply, Pakistan also lost their wickets at regular intervals that put them under pressure. However, Misbah-ul-Haq’s brilliant batting at late guided Pakistan to level India’s first innings total. Pakistan needed to score just one run in the last two balls (four wickets in hand) to win that thrilling match. However, they failed to achieve that as Misbah (53 runs) was run-out on the final ball of that match and their contest remained in a tie as Pakistan scored 141/7 in 20 overs.
Among the Indian bowlers, Irfan Pathan bowled very well as he had the bowling figures of 4-1-20-2.
Due to that tie result, India and Pakistan faced the bowl out to decide the winner. In that unique contest, India beat Pakistan by 3-0 as all the Indian bowlers (Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa) hit the stumps and all the Pakistan players missed the stumps (Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi). That bowl-out was the special moment of that match.