Indian cricket achieved one of its finest wins when they won the NatWest trophy as they chased down a mammoth 326-run target set by England. At one stage the Indian side was placed at 146/5 having lost the cream of their batting. Many fans left hope and switched off their TV sets.
That is when two young players Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif rose to the fore and showed their resilience. The young pair smacked boundaries at will and ran well between the wickets. With each run scored the English fans kept quiet while the Indian fans and the team found a second wind.
Yuvraj Singh fell after scoring a valiant half-century but Mohammad Kaif battled hard. The 21-year-old found good support in Harbhajan Singh for a while and took responsibility in the chase.
When Zaheer Khan took two runs and sealed the game for India there were massive celebrations. Sourav Ganguly was seen swinging his shirt in joy as retribution for Andrew Flintoff doing the same earlier that year in Mumbai. Kaif was hugged by his teammates as India got its biggest win ever in ODI cricket history.
NatWest Trophy win a game that was personal for Sourav Ganguly
The win during the NatWest trophy was a personal moment for the then-India skipper Sourav Ganguly. During an ODI in Mumbai, moments after England had won a close game, Andrew Flintoff pulled off his shirt like in a football celebration and rubbed the wounds of the Indian fans.
England batted first and got to 325 with then-skipper Nasser Hussain scoring a century. The 115 runs scored was his first and only ton in ODI cricket while Marcus Trescothick has scored a century with his 109 runs coming from 100 balls.
India needed a brisk start and got that in the form of Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly. The pair went for the English bowler's jugular as they launched a massive counter-attack. The opening stand was worth 106 which came inside the 15 over mark as Sourav Ganguly fell for 60 off 43 balls.
Ashley Giles then got the big wicket of Sehwag for 43 with Rahul Dravid, Dinesh Mongia, and Sachin Tendulkar following suit. Giles got the wicket of Tendulkar when the master batter went for a cut and saw his timber dislodged for 14.
That’s when Yuvraj Singh and Kaif added 121 runs in 17.4 overs with the young Indian batter falling to Collingwood for 69. England fought back with two key wickets that of Harbhajan Singh for 15 and Anil Kumble for a duck. During that stage, the Indians still needed 12 from 13 balls. 10 more runs came from the penultimate over before Zaheer Khan ended the match with two runs.
As the English players sat crestfallen, Sourav Ganguly was waving his shirt in delight shouting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jay’. Andrew Flintoff and the rest of the England side could only look shell-shocked as the ‘New India’ heralded her arrival onto the cricket field.
Also Check: James Anderson ends his Test career on a high as England trounce West Indies to win Lord’s test
/sportsinfo/media/member_avatars/image 59.png)
Follow Us/sportsinfo/media/media_files/eyIC8RBZzxAEzhXU7I0X.png)