India has won the first Twenty20 world cup 2007 defeating Pakistan by 5 runs. It is a memorable win for India. This is the first time that India and Pakistan met in the final of any world cup tournament. This is also the first time since 1983 World Cup that India won a major cricket trophy.
Indian batsmen scored 157 runs in their allotted 20 Overs. Very few people thought that it would be enough. India opened the batting in a good way with Yousuf Pathan trying to score some quick runs. He got out after scoring 15. Gautam Gambhir played an excellent innings. He came to bat in the opening and he stayed until 18 overs. He played a superb innings. He passed 200 runs in the first Twenty20 World Cup. Except Gambhir no one could bat so well. India lost wickets at regular intervals. For India, the highest run came from Gambhir. He scored 75 runs off 54 runs. More than everything, he kept wicket one end and he scored his 75 runs quite quickly.
R Uthappa, Yovraj and Dhoni disappointed the fans as they got out very cheaply. Towards the end, RP Sharma scored 30 runs off 16 balls and it was a very valuable contribution. In fact, at one stage, it seemed that India would not even pass 140 runs.
For India the batsmen scored:
Gambhir 75 (54 balls)
Yousuf Pathan 15 (8 balls)
R Uthappa 8 (11 balls)
Yuvraj Singh 14 (19 balls)
MS Dhoni 6 (10 balls)
RP Sharma 30 not out (16 balls)
Irfan Pathan 3 (3 balls)
You have to give huge credit to Pakistani bowlers. They bowled superbly and most of the time they could deliver Yorker length balls. In fact, all of the Pakistani bowlers bowled well and Indian batsmen failed to go after any particular bowler. Umar Gul captured 3 Indian wickets and he was the most successful bowler for Pakistan. They did everything right and kept Indian batsmen under pressure right through the end of Indian innings.
Chasing 158 runs Pakistan started well. However, they lost wicket at regular intervals. Pakistan got all out at 152 leaving three balls at hand. Opener Imran Nazir started well. He was scoring quickly and before getting out he scored 33 runs off just 14 balls. He scored four boundaries and two over boundaries. Younis Khan scored 24 runs facing 24 balls.
However, Pakistan middle order suddenly has broken. Pakistan lost six wickets at 77. However, their run rate was impressive though they lost wickets at regular intervals. The drama was waiting for the fans and it started when Misbah-ul-Haq started hitting sixes. Sohail Tanvir played a cameo innings of 12 runs off 4 balls. Pakistan needed 13 runs in the last over. Rudra Pratap Singh and Irfan Pathan played superb and both took 3 wicekts each. Irfan Pathan took two wickets of Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi. This was the turning point of the match.
I think, it was a typical India vs Pakistan. There was huge excitement and this is a memorable match in cricket history. Both India and Pakistan made the match some special for the cricket match.
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