September 24,2007,8:45p.m.IST.What a day for Indian Cricket!!!We are the inaugural ICC World Twenty 20 Champions.What adds to the pleasure is that it was a dream final played at the Wanderers,Johannesburg,a thrilling match between India and Pakistan and,like they did ten days ago,India held their nerves again in the final moments to win the trophy.
The match started with a bad news for us,that sehwag wasn't playing due to a thigh straigh suffered during the last match,and,what added to the surprise was that it wasn't Dinesh Karthik who made it into the side,but it was Younus Pathan,who was making his international debut.India won the toss and opted to bat and then came another surprise..Yousuf Pathan was going to open with Gambhir.And,he just showed us why he was chosen, lofting Asif over long on on the 4th ball of the match, his second delivery in international cricket!However,he couldnt carry on and lost his wicket going for another similar shot.Then Uthappa followed him back after a while and India were looking for recovery.It never really came,as the two key batsmen,Yuvraj and Dhoni both departing in a hurry,but Gambhir was holding fort from the other end.India got some sort of momentum in the final overs,thanks to a brilliant 16 ball 30 not out from Rohit Sharma.This is one of the many players who's impressed everyone through the limited opportunities that he's got.I just hope he doesnt get targeted by the internal politics of the team/board and plays for a long,long time for us.However,despite Gambhir's 75,India's total did look about 5-20 runs short.
Pakistan's chase of a target of 158 got of to an undesired start,with R P Singh removing the opener Hafeez off the 3rd ball of the innings.Then came the counter attack from Nazir,in which he carted Sreesanth for 21 runs in the second over of the innings.It was a shift in momentum and he looked to be carrying the match away when R.P. Singh cleaned up Kamran Akmal's off stick in the third over itself.It was followed up by a maiden from Sreesanth,which started to shift the momentum back from Pakistan.However,Imran Nazir was in for something special as he kept carting boundaries.Pakistan's score:53 for 3 in 5.3 overs,with Nazir 33* off 14 balls and hitting everything at will.That was the time when my friend Piyush went out of the t.v. room saying,"let me go and eat something,the match is gone".I didn't stop him,as I wanted to sit in my favourite seat,which was occupied by him till then.And,then Uthappa at mid off produced a moment of magic...securing a direct hit form there to the striker's end to catch the danger man,Nazir,short of his creaes.The momentum was back with India.Pathan snared up Younis Khan shortly and it looked to be all over for pakistan,with their score reading 65 for 4 from 8.3,with Hafeez,Nazir,Akmal and Younis Khan all back in the hut.All eyes were on Shoaib Malik,Afridi and Misbah ul haq to deliver.Shoaib Malik,their captain,was accountd for by Pathan and then,Afridi came.Even though the asking rate was over 9,one knows very well what he can do.He tried for the heroics off the second ball that he faced,a slower one from pathan,which was taken neatly by Sreesanth.Pakistan were well and truly out of the contest at that stage,their score reading 77 for 6 off 11.4.Then Misbah and Arafat seemingly crawled towards the target,scoring at nearly a run a ball,pushing the required rate up all the time.Arafat too departed,the score reading 104 for 7 off 16 overs.But,as has been the norm over the years,Ind v Pak matches always do have this moment of brilliance which swings a match in a particular direction.Misbah,who was now joined by the youngster Sohail Tanvir who was facing his first ball in international cricket,and he smashes it for six!All of a sudden it started raining sixes as now Pakistan needed 28 off 17 balls!Sreesanth acounted for Tanvir.It went down to 20 off 12 and then,R.P. Singh accounted for Umar Gul to leave Pakistan needing 13 off the last over.
Joginder Sharma bowls the first one wide,then Misbah smashes one for a six and Pakistan now need 6 off 4,a perfectly gettable target,but Misbah tried the fancy chip over short fine leg,landing the ball in sreesanth's hands to give India the first ICC World Twenty 20 cup.
This augurs very well for Indian cricket.The first trophy consisting of more than 2 teams since Natwest,2002,and the team which brings it home doesn't consist of Sachin,Sourav,Dravid(the three mainstays of Indian batting) and Zaheer,the best bowler by a distance.This team has won all the matches through team efforts,aided by two mercurial innings from Yuvi.Given the average age of this side is much below 25 and the way the youngsters have been led by Dhoni,the future's really looking bright for us.
Even Shah Rukh Khan was there in South Africa to congratulate the team for their truly amazint performance.Really,a deserved victory for India's young side.Do feel sorry for Pakistan but there can only be one winner.However,they don't have to feel disappointed as they can keep their heads high.
Well done boys,keep it up!!!
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