Its Only Cricket

A history of ICC Champions Trophy tournaments.

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Critics argue - "What is the point of playing such a tournament with just 6 more months to go for the World Cup??"

May be they are correct, but the fact remains that we cricket fans love watching such a tournament, no matter when they are played. And when ICC can smell a huge amount of money by making such a tournament possible, I don't think critics can can change too many things..

So, I thought of spending few good hours of my life to present you some of the historical aspects of all the ICC champions trophies which are played so far. Got 8 or 9 mins??

The first ever ICC Champions Trophy Tournament.
October 2000 - Kenya.

Sourav Ganguly's entrance into International cricket might be controversial, so was his exit, but his stay in International cricket was no less than PHENOMENAL. And first ever ICC Champions trophy, which was then called as Knock-Out Tournament, was one of those series for which Sourav Ganguly will always be remembered.

He made the most runs in that tournament (348 runs in all), which included centuries in Semi-finals against South Africa (141) and Finals against New Zealand (117), and showed a "very inexperienced" team - how to reach the final of one of the biggest cricket tournaments on earth. But this, of course was not a single handed effort and Ganguly got help from both old and young team-mates.

Lets start the story

India vs Australia match :-

Australian's were the World Champions and India a struggling side, with just a win against Kenya to show. This was the Quater final match of that 2000 first ever Knock Out tournament and everyone wondered how Indian batsmen will tackle Australian pace trio - Mcgrath, Lee And Gillespie.... Well, Indian team attacked them.

Australia won the toss and did the very expected - India to bat first. But India did what no body expected - Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar giving India an opening partnership of 66 runs in just 11 overs. In fact, I still Remember Sachin hitting McGrath for a cover drive and then coming down the wicket to hit a SIX OVER HIS HEAD.

But this was nearly all, as Indian team lost three more wickets before reaching 130. And then came in the star, which is still shining very brightly for Team India - Yuvraj Singh. This was his first ever batting chance in International cricket and he made 84 off 80 balls. Showcasing some shots that people had forgot were possible to play.

And then effected a "direct hit" run out off danger-man Micheal Bevan as Indian team successfully defended a smallish total of 265..!!

India vs South Africa Semi-final match :-

Questions to Indian team about their abilities were closed, but people started to ask - was that win against Australia just of those things??

Sourav Ganguly answered one and all that day, when he went on to make 141 runs off 142 balls. Ganguly kept my elder brother's faith of never scoring more than a run a ball, but his score was so big that Indian team posted a mammoth total of 296 against "never ending" South African batting line up..... But that day, that batting could compile only 200 runs and Indian team virtually cruised into the finals.

The other Semi-final :-

It was a New Zealand vs Pakistan affair, but always looked like resulting in a India vs Pakistan final as Pakistani team were lot better looking on paper than what New Zealand had to offer, more so when their best all rounder - Chris Cairns was declared unfit to play this Champions Trophy semi-final. Pakistan posted a struggling 252, and New Zealand looked good at chasing as Roger Towse made his fifth running ODI half century and Nathan Astle supported him..

And then Pakistan turned it all around by taking 4 wickets in 7 overs... and then it was Craig McMillan and Scott Styris, who took New Zealand into the finals of a tournament as big as this one, with an unbroken partnership of 66.

The final :-

There was a 141 run partnership for India at the start, in just half of overs..... but Indian team spoiled quite a bit of it by making only another 123 in next half. Still, Indian team had defended same total against mighty Australian, and looked like doing it again as they converted New Zealand score to 5 for 132.

And since then everyone is wondering how those two "Chris" couldn't get out. I mean Cairns and Harris. They made 122 together and went on to win the first ever ICC Champions Trophy -- the first ever tournament that New Zealand had won..!!

The Second ICC Champions Trophy.
September 2002 - Sri Lanka.

This time, ICC were determined to make this tournament more enjoyable... and thus, they ruled out the option of playing it as a "Knock-Out" tournament. The called it 2002 ICC Champions trophy and made four groups of top International cricket teams . Three in each one. With only one advancing to the Semi-finals.

Group 1 : Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh.

Group 2 : India, England and Zimbabwe.

Group 3 : South African, West Indies and Kenya.

Group 4 : Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Netherlands.

The first names from each group advanced to the finals, which meant -- India had to again fight with South Africa for a place in the final of ICC Champions trophy.... like they did in 2000. And the result was very much similar as well as India batted first to make a good looking total of 261 on a "tough to bat" pitch of Premadasa Stadium in Sri Lanka.

But this time South African's fought lot better and even looked like winning it easily, before Herschelle Gibbs suffered cramps in his fingers and couldn't hold the bat. He decided to "retire hurt" after making 116 off 119 balls, with his team still needing 70 runs and gave a window of opportunity to Indian team. This is when Indian captain Sourav Ganguly played the trick and brought his

latest spinner - Virendra Sehwag. Kallis was still playing a steady innings at the other end, but Sehwag scooped 3 South African in just a matter of 5 overs and gave away only 25 runs.

He was the man of the match, while Jacques Kallis couldn't complete his century. He made 97 runs.

The other Semi- final was another example of the fact that "Sri Lanka is the toughest team to beat at home". Australia wanted to reach the finals of this tournament very badly, but the hope came down hard on them as they were bowled out for just 162 runs in front of Sri Lankan spinner - Muralitharan and Dermasena.

Sri Lanka Chased it down in just 40 overs with 7 wickets in reserves.

I feel like telling you about one more match - "India vs England" of group 2, where England batted first to make 269 runs. They must have thought - "We have to fight but this total is defendable".... Well, Indian team chased it down in just 39.3 overs with 8 wickets in hands.... That day (22nd September 2002), Ganguly made 117 off 109 balls and Indian team found another Tendulkar in Virendra Sehwag who made 126 off just 104 balls.

The final :-

Well, there was no final. At least a complete final that Indian team could show to prove that they were the "clear-cut" winners of 2002 ICC Champions Trophy. They bowled out Sri Lanka for a relatively smallish total of 244 on a good pitch of Premadasa on 29th of September 2002 and again on 30th September 2002 for just 222 runs. But none of the time "Rain gods" were pleased with the efforts of Indian bowlers and started to rain exactly the same time as they did on the first day.

Result : - Sri Lanka and India shared the Cup, and Sourav Ganguly couldn't tell Atapattu that they have beaten them half times twice in two days.... take you hands off it..!!

The Third ICC Champions Trophy :-
September 2004, England.

The last version of Champions trophy looked "OK" to ICC but they knew they had to find more clauses to decided which team advances to the next round if they keep on making four groups of 3 teams in the preliminary round. Bradshaw&BrowneWin2004Final.jpg

They decided to judge with net run rate if two teams in Champions trophy stand at equal or same number of points. Just for information, let me also tell you How Net Run Rate in one day cricket is calculated -- they add all the runs made by a team against all teams and divide it by number of overs that they played. And then they calculate number of runs they conceded, in how many overs. And then they subtract those two identities to find the Net run rate of an ODI.

In this 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, United states of America were given a chance in place of Netherlands and the groups were divided as following --

Group 1 - Australia, New Zealand and USA.

Group 2 - West Indies, South African and Bangladesh.

Group 3 - India, Pakistan and Kenya.

Group 4 - England, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Indian team has nev

er lost to Pakistan in World Cup but they failed to make same record in ICC Champions trophy as well when they lost miserably to their arch rivals. Indian team tried very hard to defend a total of 200, but failed against some strong batting of Injamam and Yousuf Youhana.

New Zealand captain - Stephen Fleming had said before their match against Australia - "If you want to win a cricket tournament where all International teams play, you have to beat Australia at some point of time". Well, New Zealand failed to do the upset but England did when they beat 2003 World Cup Champions by chasing a target of 260 runs. This probably was the best ODI innings that England captain Michael Vaughan has played. He made 86 runs, and got the help from 81 by Trescothick and 52 by Andrew Strauss. This was the first Semi-final match of that tournament.

The other Semi-final match proved to be a "no match" as West Indies bowled out Pakistan for just 131 runs. And Chased it down in just 28.1 overs.

so the final :-

It was a final that no body expected - England vs West Indies and the result was even more surprising. England failed to put up a good total on board and managed only 217 runs. But that too looked more than enough when West Indies slumped to 80 for 5 and then 147 for 8.....!!

The problem with England was that they didn't had too many runs in bank and couldn't find the 9th and the 10 West Indian wicket. Wicket keeper Courtney Browne and seam bowler Ian Bradshaw kept on moving the scoreboard, decided to play on even when umpires offered them the light and finally........ won the 2004 ICC Champions trophy for West Indies..

The 4th ICC Champions Trophy :-
October 2006, India.

As you may know that it's yet to be played, so try one of the following - -

The information bag on this tournament.
The schedule of 2006 ICC Champions trophy.
Tickets for 2006 ICC Champions trophy.
A history of India vs Australia One day matches.

Its Only Cricket

A history of ICC Champions Trophy tournaments.

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