India kept losing their wickets at regular intervals in what turned out to be a 20-over match due to rain
India's Rohit Sharma leaves the crease after losing his wicket during the warm-up cricket match ahead of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy (Pic: AFP)
On this day in cricketing history, 11 years back, India secured their second ICC Champions Trophy title, beating England in a closely fought final by five runs at Edgbaston.
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This was one of the biggest moments in the history of Indian cricket as the skipper MS Dhoni became the only captain to have won all the premier white-ball trophies, the ICC T20 World Cup (2007), ICC Cricket World Cup (2011) and ICC Champions Trophy (2013). Having won both the 50-over titles, India was the undisputed king of ODI cricket.
In the semifinals, India defeated Sri Lanka while England beat South Africa.
Coming to the final clash, India was put to bat first after England won the toss. India kept losing their wickets at regular intervals in what turned out to be a 20-over match due to rain. Knocks from Virat Kohli (43 in 34 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Shikhar Dhawan (31 in 24 balls, with two fours and a six) kept one end steady while wickets fell at the other end. A 47-run partnership between Virat and Ravindra Jadeja (33* in 25 balls, with two fours and two sixes) took India to 129/7 in their 20 overs.
Ravi Bopara (3/20) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia. James Tredwell, Stuart Broad and James Anderson got a wicket each.
In the run-chase, India restricted England to 46/4, but a 64-run partnership between Eoin Morgan (33 in 30 balls, with three fours and a six) and Bopara (30 in 25 balls, with two sixes) seemed to have snatched the game from India.
With 20 runs left in 15 balls to get, Dhoni put Ishant Sharma (2/36), Jadeja (2/24) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/15) forward to defend the deficit. The move paid off as England fell five runs short, restricted to 124/8 in their 20 overs.
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This victory remains sweet for the Indian fans till this day, largely due to the fact that India reached the knockout stages of ICC tournaments in years to come numerous times but failed to get another trophy to their name.
Some of the top performers from the competition for India:
Shikhar Dhawan: 363 runs in five matches at an average of 90.75 and a strike rate of 101.39, with two centuries and a fifty. His best score was 114 (Golden Bat for most runs in the tournament and Player of the Tournament award).
Ravindra Jadeja: 12 wickets in five matches at an average of 12.83 and an economy rate of 3.75, with the best figures of 5/36 and also 80 vital runs in two innings, with the best score of 47* against South Africa (Most wickets in the tournament)
Rohit Sharma: 177 runs in five matches at an average of 35.40 and a strike rate of 75.96, with two half-centuries and best score of 65.
Virat Kohli: 176 runs in five matches at an average of 58.66 and a strike rate of 95.65, with one half-century, including a best score of 58* in the semifinal against Sri Lanka.
Ishant Sharma: 10 wickets in five matches at an average of 21.80 and an economy rate of 5.73, with the best score of 3/33.
(With agency inputs)
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