India win trophy with thrilling finish

England

Cricket365
June 23, 2013

A maddening day of waiting and stop-starts finally ended with India winning the Champions Trophy final in exciting fashion, beating England by just five runs as the hosts failed to reach a below-par score in Birmingham.

Rain caused havoc with the fixture as play began nearly six hours late, the covers going on and off repeatedly after England won the toss and chose to bowl. The crowds remained though, as India posted a seemingly below-par score of 129 for seven.

England would have backed themselves to reach the target, and initially they were well on their way. When Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan were in the middle, it seemed a done deal, but both fell to Ishant Sharma in one over, and England reached 124 for eight.

Opener Rohit Sharma was the first to fall for India, to Stuart Broad for nine, before the rain again delayed proceedings. Once they returned though, matters continued apace as everyone seemed to be in a hurry to make sure the overs got bowled.

England's fifth bowler, Bopara, was the star of the show, taking three top order wickets in just four overs, including a double wicket maiden. He removed tournament top scorer Shikhar Dhawan for 31.

Virat Kohli and Ravi Jadeja were the main scorers for India, making 43 and 33 respectively and pushing the pace near the end. The rest of the order was disappointing though, as Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni were out in single figures.

England's knock got off to a poor start as skipper Alastair Cook was out for two, and then Jonathan Trott also departed within the first six overs. He had made 20, and his exit brought Ian Bell and Joe Root together.

The promise of a rebuild was soon broken though, as Root was sent packing for seven by Ashwin, who had also removed Trott. India's spinners were turning the ball on a dime, and it was tough going for England on a deck that suited the visitors.

Morgan and Bopara then came together and punished the pace bowlers, particularly Ishant. All looked lost for India, but Morgan then lost his head to the long-haired paceman and lobbed the ball to Ashwin at mid-on.

Bopara was out next ball for 30, swinging at a head high bouncer and hitting it to Aswhin too, this time stationed at square leg. He amusingly indicated that it was a high bouncer, but he'd hit it and could thus not claim a wide.

From then on the game rollercoastered India's way, with Jadeja bowling Jos Buttler for a duck before Tim Bresnan was tun out. Cook watched from the dressing room in stoic silence as the final delivery, requiring six for the win, was a dot ball.

This was the third ICC final India had won in England, while the home side had played in five finals all over the world and won none.

England: Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, James Tredwell, James Anderson

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav

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