14 years ago, today, Pakistan were on the
verge of making history. A set Misbah-ul-Haq had just hit a six off the second delivery
of Joginder Sharma’s final over to shift all the pressure on the Indians, who had
just six runs to defend off the final four balls. However, Misbah went for the scoop
over short-fine leg in the very next delivery, perfectly picking out S
Sreesanth as India won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup at the Wanderers
in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Watch the decisive dismissal here:
That win started a golden era for Indian
cricket, starting a journey which has seen it become a dominant side in world cricket
today. The win brought India its first World Cup trophy since Kapil Dev led
India to the 50-over World Cup in 1983.
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It was the first time the world had witnessed
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s tactical nous as the Indian captain overlooked Harbhajan
Singh for an unfancied Sharma to bowl the pressure final over. Dhoni’s leadership
was among the takeaways from the tournament, as he led a relatively
inexperienced side, without many of their core batting stars, to victory months
after India crashed out of the group stages of the 50-over World Cup.
India won the toss and chose to bat, with opener
Gautam Gambhir going on to anchor the innings with a brilliant 75. A late cameo
from Rohit Sharma (30 from 16) pushed India’s total to 157 for the loss of five.
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Pakistan pacer Umar Gul took three wickets,
including those of skipper Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.
In response, Pakistan got off to a wobbly
start, losing opener Mohammed Hafeez and Kamran Akmal within the first three
overs. Imran Nazir scored a quickfire 33, including 21 off the first over from Sreesanth.
Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik was dismissed for just eight from 17 runs, while man-of-the-tournament Shahid Afridi recorded a golden duck with Younis Khan contributing a
run-a-ball 24 before Misbah went on to score 43.
Pakistan were bundled out for 152, five short of India’s total.
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RP Singh and Irfan Pathan took three
wickets each, with Sharma dismissing Younis Khan apart from the match-winning
scalp of Misbah. Sreesanth also took a wicket.
