Mahendra Singh Dhoni become only second captain in the history of Indian Cricket to lead India to become World Champions. India beat Pakistan in another thrilling encounter by 5 runs to become Twenty20 World Champions.
Gautam Gambhir, Rudra Pratap Singh and Irfan Pathan came up with heroic efforts to help India score a last-over victory in the much- awaited clash between the arch rivals and also had the satisfaction of bowling out their opposition with three deliveries to go.
With Pakistan needing 13 off the last over to be bowled by Joginder Sharma and just one wicket in hand and prolific Misbah-ul-Haq on strike, it was anyone's game. But Indian fans got the jitters when Joginder bowled an ugly wide and then got hit for a straight six by Misbah.
Suddenly, the equation was down to six from five balls. Joginder Sharma produced an important dot ball and then Misbah moved out towards the off stump but only ballooned the ball up and S Sreesanth made up for his poor bowling earlier in the day to take a well-judged catch at square leg.
Chasing a target of 158 for victory, Pakistan started superbly with Imran Nazir smashing S.Sreesanth for 21 in the 2nd over of the match, on the other hand R.P Sing started well for the Indians by removing Mohammad Haffez & Kamran Akmal with beauty of delivery.
Pakistan were reduce to 26/2 in 3rd over, but Imran Nazir was going well at other end and Indians again with the brilliance in the field able to snatch up another run out in the face of Imran Nazir.
Joginder Sharma able to strike in his very 2nd over to remove Younis Khan to reduce Pakistan score to 65/4 in 9th Over. The double blow in 2 balls from Irfan Pathan set Pkaistan on backfoot in the 12th over. He removed dangerous Mallik & Afridi in two consecutive balls to help Indians to gain the momentum. But it was Misbah-Ul-Haq who tried very hard to give India a hard time at the end.
Earlier M.S. Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first but they manage only 157/5 in 20 overs with the help of Gaustam Gambhir (75 of 51 balls) & Rohit Sharma (30 of 16 balls).
India Vs Pakistan Twenty20 Final Highlights
Irfan Pathan was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant spell of bowling.
Match Summary
India – 157/5 in 20 Overs
Gautam Gambhir– 75Rohit Sharma – 30*
Umar Gul–4-0-28-3Sohail Tanvir– 4-0-29-1
Pakistan – 152/10 in 19.3 Overs
Misbah-Ul-Haq– 43Imran Nazir – 33
Irfan Pathan–4-0-16-3R.P Singh – 4-0-26-3
India Vs Pakistan Twenty20 Final - Pics (Courtesy:Cricinfo)
