On September 24, 2007, Team Indiabeat Pakistan by five runs in the final of the T20 World Cup 2007, played in Johannesburg. It was India’s first global title success after the World Cup 1983 win. Earlier,
MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first. Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan were given the task to open the innings for India in the big game. Virender Sehwag couldn’t make it to the playing XI due to fitness issues. In the third over, Yusuf accumulated 15 runs at a quick pace but in the third over, pacer Mohammad Asif got him caught at the hands of Shoaib Malik. Robin Uthappa also lost his wicket early in the massive game. The right-handed batter fell against Sohail Tanvir in the sixth over.
Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni also looked ineffective in the contest and following their departure, India were reeling at a score of 111/4 in 15.2 overs. Gautam Gambhir held his nerves and stood at the crease until the 18th over. The southpaw notched up 75 off 54. Rohit Sharma also played an impactful innings of 30 off 16 which helped India reach a total of 157/5 in 20 overs. Speedster Umar Gul emerged as the most effective bowler for Pakistan, bagging 3/28 figures in his four overs.
An intriguing chase ended in Pakistan’s loss
Defending the total, pacer RP Singh delivered two crucial breakthroughs to India. Pakistantop-order batters Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal departed after scoring 1 (3) and 0 (3) respectively. Imran Nazir looked confident with his bat and racked up 33 off just 14. He got run out in the sixth over and his fall impacted the Men in Green negatively. Veteran Younis Khan also got caught by Yusuf Pathan on Joginder Sharma’s delivery.
Captain Shoaib Malik (8 off 17) and Shahid Afridi (0 off 1) became the victims of Irfan Pathan in the 12th over of the innings. Bowling his final over, Irfan also got rid of Yasir Arafat and the former ended his spell with 3/16 figures in his four overs. In the final overs of the innings, Misbah-ul-Haq turned the tide of the match. In the 18th over, Misbah hammered three maximums against Harbhajan Singh and gave India chills.
In the next over, Sohail Tanvir also hit S Sreesanth for a couple of maximums and took the Green Army close to the target. However, after conceding two sixes, Sreesanth made a comeback and cleaned up Tanvir. On the last four deliveries, Pakistan required six to win and Misbah, while facing Joginder Sharma, played a scoop shot which resulted in his dismissal as Sreesanth, who was deployed at the short fine leg, took the catch and sealed victory for India. Irfan Pathan became the Player of the Match for his brilliant bowling.
