June 23, 2013 This date is very special in the history of Indian cricket. Today, under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Team India canceled the losing match and won the Champions Trophy title by defeating England on the same ground. Ishant Sharma, who proved to be a villain in the eyes of Indian fans till the 17th, robbed the crowd of his bowling in the 18th over. Iant Morgan and Ravi Bopra changed the image of the match by walking one over. Dhoni became the first captain in the world to win all three ICC trophies by winning the Champions Trophy.
The Champions Trophy final is also remembered for Dhoni’s impeccable leadership. Is it the decision of Ishant Sharma to get the 18th over or the historic decision of spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin to get the last over. Due to rain, the final of the Champions Trophy was reduced to 20 overs. Batting first, Team India’s batting order shattered like a pack of cards before the English bowlers and the team managed to score only 129 runs in 20 overs for a loss of 7 overs. England all-rounder Ravi Bopara took three wickets for just 20 runs in 4 overs.
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England also had a poor start chasing the target of 130 and the team lost 4 wickets for just 46 runs. However, a 64-run partnership between Eoin Morgan (33) and Ravi Bopara (30) diverted England to the match. By 17 overs, England had put on 102 runs for the loss of 4 wickets and the victory was very close. Known for his amazing decisions, captain Dhoni threw the ball to Ishant in the 18th over and surprised everyone. He had earlier defeated Ishant in the final, giving up 27 runs in 3 overs. Ishant was greeted by Morgan’s six and bowled the next two deliveries by India.
The victory was visible to England, but luck may have something else in mind. On the next delivery of the over, Ishant revived the match by catching Morgan Ashwin, and on the next delivery, batsman Bopara, who was also caught by Ishant in his trap, returned to the pavilion after scoring 30 runs. England needed 15 runs to win in the last over and skipper Dhoni gave the ball to Ashwin even after watching England’s conditions. Many cricket fans at the time thought Dhoni had done the job of accepting defeat. However, Ashwin made his captain’s decision come true and he scored only 5 runs for India.
