As the Champions Trophy kicks off this month in India, Cricinfo rewinds to the four previous editions of the multi-nation tournament and picks out five memorable moments
Sriram Veera04-Oct-2006
Steve Waugh’s stumps are shattered by Zaheer Khan’s yorker © Getty Images
Zaheer Khan’s yorker India v Australia, ICC Knockout 1st quarter-final, 2000
Australia needed 43 runs from eight overs. The battle-hardened Steve Waugh was still in the middle, looking good on 24. Anil Kumble had just bled 15 runs and Sourav Ganguly, in desperation, threw the ball to a young left-arm paceman playing only his second match. Zaheer Khan bounded in, leapt into his delivery stride, arched back his upper body like a catapult and hurled the ball across. Waugh backed away to the leg side to give himself room to punish any looseners first up. Instead, the ball hurtled in fast, flat, and low: a yorker. Waugh stabbed at it in desperation but the ball squeezed under his bat to disturb the furniture. India went on to win. Alongside Kapil Dev’s dismissal of Qasim Omar during the giddy summer of ’85 down under, this was one of the most memorable yorkers bowled by an Indian pacemen in one-day internationals.Philo Wallace’s first-ball six West Indies v India, semi-final, 1999
West Indies and their opener Philo Wallace had surprised everybody by beating Pakistan in the quarter-final, and now faced another favourite, India, in the semis of the inaugural Champions Trophy. Not many knew Wallace then and few will remember him now. Javagal Srinath is unlikely to forget him though. Wallace got to the pitch of his very first ball, a loose half-volley outside off-stump, put all of his huge frame and heavy bat into the shot and lofted it over long-off, the thud as it landed reverberating all around the ground. As with many significant sixes, this was also more than just the sum total of runs it produced, as much a sign of confidence as a statement of intimidation. Srinath did not recover from that blow and neither did India, who went on the lose by six wickets. Wallace scored 221 of his 701 career runs (33 matches) from three games in this tournament.
Ian Bradshaw and Courtney Browne celebrate a thrilling win © Getty Images
Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw’s spine-tingling rescue act West Indies v England, 2004
West Indies had not won anything for a long time. The drought seemed perennial. They needed something special, something big. Hopes rose in the 2004 tournament as they made it to the final and started off well in the pursuit of 218. They stumbled, and at 147 for 8 victory appeared a mirage until two foot soldiers – Ian Bradshaw and Courtney Browne – scripted an amazing come-from-behind victory. The two went about the chase with incredible sangfroid. Steve Harmison gunned for the throat, Andrew Flintoff went for the toe-crusher but the duo weren’t hustled. Even, the English weather tried to rescue the hosts. Dark clouds enveloped the arena, sighting the ball became difficult. Bad light was offered to the batsmen at 183 for 8, but they chose to carry on. Michael Vaughan, who ignored the spin of Ashley Giles throughout the match, turned to Paul Collingwood. But as Bradshaw blasted him for two fours through the offside ring, the improbable suddenly appeared possible. Vaughan finally turned to his talisman Darren Gough, looking for a miracle. No luck: a boundary apiece to each batsman, off Alex Wharf, saw West Indies snatch a spine-tingling victory with an over to spare. Bradshaw and Browne exploded in joy, breaking out in wild celebrations. It was at the same ground incidentally that George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes came together for the last wicket in 1902 and added 15 runs to beat the Aussies. Hirst reportedly told his partner, “We’ll get them in singles,” though whether something similar was said between the two Bs is not known.Chris Cairns’ one-handed matchwinner New Zealand v India, 2000
New Zealand had lost their previous 13 ODI finals, history was calling and one man with a dodgy knee – passed fit only a day before – was all ears. Chris Cairns had played the innings of his life in the final, also going past the 3000-run mark, to steer New Zealand closer to their dream. It came down to the last over. The Kiwis needed four runs to win and Cairns needed two for a hundred. Ajit Agarkar speared one in on to his hips, Cairns shuffled inside the line, and as the bat came down, his top-hand came off the handle and the bottom-hand grip sent the ball crashing into the long-leg fence. With that the long, painful wait – NZ had played 30 ODI tournaments before this and won none – was finally over and it was time to taste the champagne. His father Lance would have been proud of his son and the shot, having been no stranger in his playing days, to hitting one-handed sixes.
Hansie Cronje lifts the trophy © Cricinfo
South Africa’s maiden triumph South Africa v West Indies, 1998
Few sights have been as stirring in cricket as those of the victorious South African side posing with the Wills International Cup on a balmy November night in 1998. After years of isolation, their tournament win was an occasion to match their re-introduction to the game in front of thousands of fans in Kolkata in 1991-92. This was their first victory in a major tournament; though they had won the first-ever cricket gold at the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia two months earlier, few would doubt that this was a different level of success altogether. Every fantastic finale has a sub-text, and leading up to that lasting image of camaraderie were two more. First, the effervescence of youth captured in the figure of Jacques Kallis – his five wickets set up South Africa for victory – celebrating the dismissal of Reon King, leg-before in the 49th over, as West Indies were bowled out for 245. Arms pumped, smile stretching across his face as his team-mates embraced him, Kallis was South Africa’s hero of the tournament. The second was the choke-proof Derek Crookes cheekily sweeping Rawl Lewis’s legspin through midwicket for two to win the match and redeem South Africa, temporarily of the chokers tag, that blighted them through the nineties.
