 | « Back to article | Print this article |
It was on July 13, 2002, when India scripted one of its memorable wins in the history of cricket.
The Sourav Ganguly-led side defeated England by two wickets to win the Natwest Trophy finals against England. As the winning run was hit, skipper Ganguly took his shirt off at the balcony of Lord's Cricket Ground to celebrate in style.
In the Natwest final against England at Lord's in 2002, India was set a target of 326 to win the match.
India was struggling at 146/5 when both Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif got together at the crease. The duo put on a partnership of 121 runs to give India a glimmer of hope in the match.
Yuvraj got out after scoring 69 runs, but Kaif batted well with the tailenders to give India a win in the final over by two wickets and with three balls to spare. Kaif remained unbeaten on 87. This effort of Yuvraj and Kaif is still viewed as special as India had lost all of its key wickets.
Ganguly and Virender Sehwag had provided a good start to the side, but England staged a comeback to reduce India at 146/5.
The Men in Blue had lost the wickets of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Mongia cheaply.
Batting first, England had raced away and ended on 325/5, which was considered at that time an impossible chase. Marcus Trescothick and Nasser Hussain had registered centuries for the hosts.