In Durban ten days prior, it was impossible to separate India from Pakistan. They competed in what was arguably the best major event final ever witnessed in front of a crazed crowd at the Wanderers. Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s ice-cold captain, sought to pull his team back from the edge once more, but the Indians narrowly hung on to win by five runs and the first ICC World Twenty20.

India was inspired with the ball after struggling mightily to reach 157 for 5 despite some tiger-like bowling and fielding, and Pakistan appeared to be far out of contention with 54 needed from 24 balls and only three wickets in hand. But the unlikely became conceivable when Misbah crushed Harbhajan Singh for three sixes and Sohail Tanvir added a four-ball twelve.

Misbah was on strike, and Pakistan had to get 13 runs in the last over. After giving it a lot of thought, Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to take a chance on the new player Joginder Sharma. When he first threw wide, Indian fans booed, and things got even worse when Misbah hit a full toss for six miles over long-off. But when victory was close, he didn’t think things through.

He walked over his stumps and tried to scoop the ball down to his fine leg. When Sreesanth hit the ball at short fine leg, millions of people on the subcontinent held their breath because he didn’t hit it cleanly. As he held it, the stadium erupted in cheers.

Rudra Pratap Singh and Irfan Pathan, two left-armers who each took three wickets to end the chase, were the masterminds behind India’s victory.
Singh had Mohammad Hafeez caught at slip in both of his opening overs and removed Kamran Akmal’s off stump off the ground, but Imran Nazir performed brilliantly at the other end to put his team ahead of the asking rate.

In Sreesanth’s opening over, two sixes and two fours were scored thanks to Nazir’s powerful cuts and pulls.
India still needed wickets as they attempted to defend a mediocre total, but Sreesanth atoned for his mistakes with a maiden to Younis Khan. The catalyst was Robin Uthappa, who stopped Nazir’s explosive 14-ball 33 with a pinpoint throw from mid-off to the keeper’s end.

The next scoring opportunity came from Joginder’s lack of speed, with Younis misfiring a pass to midfield. Shoaib Malik was then required to lead his team to victory. But something had to give when Irfan bowled with perfect line and length and the Indian cries in the stadium became louder.

Malik finally gave up, dragging a long hop to midwicket. Pathan was overjoyed, and shortly after, he and his teammates had left the clouds behind. After a heads-up heave that found Sreesanth at long-off, Shahid Afridi, who arrived at the crease with a reputation for being a boom-boom player, exited with a whimper.
India appeared to be winning the match unstoppably after the scoreboard read 77 for 6.

However, Misbah had other plans, which Yasir Arafat and Tanvir wonderfully supported. No one was able to breathe easily until Misbah flubbed his final line, even though Irfan, Sreesanth, and RP Singh bowled outstanding yorkers to push India to the limit.

In the Indian innings, Umar Gul and Gautam Gambhir both received attention, with Gul claiming 3 for 28 in a standout period in which he bowled yorkers virtually at will.

The Indian innings was kept together by Gambhir’s brilliant 75, and Rohit Sharma’s late 30-run cameo gave India some hope. India’s plans for the match were changed when Virender Sehwag hurt his groyne, and Yusuf Pathan, who was brought in as a replacement, almost ran out of time after wasting time in the first one.

Yusuf is also known as Irfan’s older brother. He first became known in domestic Twenty20, where he hit a straight six off Mohammad Asif to show off his skills. Asif bowled much more slowly than usual, and Yusuf hit one through point for four runs.

Malik then caught an audacious pull at mid-on. India had to rely mostly on singles to speed up their scoring rate after the early tide was stopped. Uthappa tried to speed up the innings by hitting the ball over extra cover, but the fielder caught it easily.

India needed someone to fill in the gaps after Malik quickly brought on Afridi and Hafeez. Gambhir was the man. He hit some beautiful drives through the covers and pushed the singles as Yuvraj Singh played himself in. Malik didn’t like how quickly the runs were coming in, so Gambhir hit Afridi over midwicket for six when the delivery was too loose.

He replied by calling on Gul, who was Pakistan’s best fast bowler in this tournament. Gambhir cut him behind point on his way to 50 runs in 38 balls, but Gul’s round-the-wicket line soon paid off. Yuvraj had been a great batter in big games in the past, but he never got going this time, and a bad pull straight back into Gul’s hands.

The batsmen got more and more frustrated as the fielders worked hard in the outfield and Gul threw both short-pitched balls and perfect yorkers. The stress got to Dhoni in the end, and his swing hit nothing but air as Gul hit another fast-and-straight special.

Gambhir tried to break free, and when he hit a huge six that hit the scoreboard at midwicket, the Indian fans started to dance, but Gul got back at him quickly. Gambhir’s great innings came to an end when he tried to flick-paddle, but the ball went straight to Asif at short fine leg.

Sharma had done well in a very important game against South Africa, and he did so again in the last two overs. He hit two fours off of Arafat, and then he hit a slower ball from Tanvir toward long-on.
Hafeez made it, but all he could do was push the ball over the rope.
Games between these two great rivals are won and lost because of things like this.
But on an exciting afternoon at the Bullring, there were no winners or losers. Instead, it was a huge success for a format that is here to stay.

Misbah-ul-Haq Massive six

Johannesburg, September 24, 2007. Over 51 years, the Wanderers had seen many exciting cricket games, but this one was different. n the final of the first event in the game’s new, shorter format, the two teams with the most heated rivalry in modern cricket will face off. And it came down to a crazy, high-energy last over.
Pakistan needs to score 13 runs to win the first World T20.
Misbah-ul-Haq hit a huge six off a full toss from Joginder Sharma, who was an unexpected choice to bowl the final over.

Through competing fan bases, there was a frenzied craziness. Misbah had gotten Pakistan from 77 for 6 in the 12th over to one stroke away from winning the world cricket championship. They wouldn’t have won since the World Cup in 1992 and the Austral-Asia Cup in 1994, if they did. His 43 had hard blows at crucial moments and was well-balanced.

Sharma, one of the medium pacers, later claimed that he had anticipated Misbah’s decision to take the scoop or the lap shot.
His final delivery stride included a tiny pause that allowed him to adjust the length, cut the tempo, and follow the batsman. Misbah was caught, guilty, and could do nothing but spoon the ball into the air. Misbah was on his haunches in despair when Sreesanth, at fine leg, brought in, finished the capture. The reverberating resonance of that final ball would permanently alter cricket in the world. India was quickly enamoured with the three-hour thrillfest of T20 after a spectacular final with a fairytale finish. Eight franchises were auctioned, and the first Indian Premier League began to play four months later.

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(Disclaimer: The insights expressed in this article are those of the author. This article was not written or edited by https://thetrc.news.blog/; it was published on July 25 , 2022.)