Twenty20 World Cup 2007 Final
The final of 2007 ICC Twenty20 World Cup was played between India and Pakistan. India reached the finals after beating Australia, by 15 runs, at Kingsmead, Durban. On the other hand, Pakistan made it to the finals after winning against New Zealand, by 6 wickets, in Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town. The final match took place on 24th September 2007, in Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.
On the day of the final, India won the toss and elected to bat first, since the pitch was considered to be batsman-friendly. By the end of twenty overs, India was 157/5, with Umar Gul having taken the crucial wickets of both Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The only player who had played a decent innings was Gautam Gambhir, who made 75 runs off 54 balls. With a low score to pursue, Pakistan had an edge from the very start.As the game progressed, Sreesanth's 21-run over tilted the game more in the favor of Pakistan. It was only Irfan Pathan and Joginder Sharma who bowled tight overs, to balance the odds a bit. By the end of the 16th over, Pakistan was short of 54 runs. Then, Harbhajan Singh came to bowl and Misbah-ul-Haq hit 3 sixes off his over. As if this wasn't enough, even Sreesanth managed to give 2 sixes in his next over.
With one over remaining and one last wicket in hand, Pakistan needed just 13 runs to win. At the start of the final over, Joginder Sharma bowled a wide ball, which was soon followed by a dot ball. Not much time later, Misbah went for a six, leaving Pakistan need just 6 runs to win, with four balls remaining. As Misbah tried to go for another six, he was caught at short fine-leg by Sreesanth. With this, Pakistan was all out for 152 runs and India had won the match, by 5 runs, as well as the championship.
Statistics
- Winning Team: India
- Man of the Match: Irfan Pathan (3 wickets, for 16 runs)
- Man of the Series: Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)
