Cricket

On This Day: MS Dhoni's India clinched T20 World Cup with memorable triumph over Pakistan

The Indian cricket team, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, won the inaugural edition of the ICC T20 World Cup on this day 14 years back.

On This Day: MS Dhoni's India clinched T20 World Cup with memorable triumph over Pakistan

India defeated Pakistan in the final to lift their maiden World T20 title in 2007. Reuters/File

On 24 September 2007, India scripted a new era in the history of sports. The Indian cricket team, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, won the inaugural edition of the ICC T20 World Cup on this day 14 years back. India won the match against arch-rivals Pakistan by five runs at The Wanderers in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The victory was significant as it was Indian cricket team's first major limited-overs' trophy since India's 1983 World Cup victory.

India won the toss and opted to bat first. The team lost opener Yusuf Pathan and No 3 Robin Uthappa within the first six overs. Pacer Umar Gul took the wickets of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni. The high octane match saw Gautam Gambhir stand out with a crucial knock of 75 off 54 balls, striking eight fours and two sixes while Rohit Sharma's late flurry helped India to a total of 157.

When it came to bowling, RP Singh took wickets of Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal. Batsman Imran Nazir made 21 runs off Sreesanth's first over smashing two fours and two sixes. However, he was later run out which turned out to be a crucial point in the match.

Younis Khan made 24 runs and while the then Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik made eight runs off 17 balls. Shahid Afridi was dismissed for a golden duck. Misbah ul-Haq then took charge of the chase and hit three massive sixes off Harbhajan Singh.

With one wicket in hand, Pakistan were in need of 13 runs from the final six balls. The last over of the nail-biting match was bowled pacer by Joginder Sharma and Misbah smashed a six on the third ball of the over.

Pakistan needed six from four balls when Misbah played a scoop which ended up straight into the hands of Sreesanth. India became the champions of the inaugural T20 World Cup and the victory prompted BCCI to create the Indian Premier League next year. The IPL has since gone on to become one of the best T20 competitions.

Updated Date: September 24, 2021 09:59:59 IST

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