Under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, the Indian Cricket Team registered a remarkable win in the finals of the NatWest Tri series finals played at iconic Lords, London on 13th July 2012.
England captain Naseer Hussain won the toss and decided to bat first. Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight got the hosts off to a decent start putting on 42 runs for the opening wicket. Zaheer got rid of Nick Knight.
Tresthoick played with intent putting pressure on the Indian bowling line up and completed his half- century off just 41 balls. Naseer took time to settle before launching a positive attack on Indian bowlers to reach 50 off 65 balls. Both England batsmen kept on rotating the strike and made the life of Indian bowlers tough.
The left-handed Tresthoick completed a well-deserved century off 89 balls while Naseer Hussain looked in complete control. With things looking out of hand for India, Anil Kumble got the breakthrough dismissing Tresthoick for 109. Tresthoick and Naseer Hussain added 185 runs for the 2nd wicket.
Andrew Flintoff joined in with Nasser Hussain and took the attack to Indian bowlers. The England captain showed his class to complete his century off 118 balls. Zaheer Khan dismissed the dangerous Flintoff for a quickfire 40 off 32 balls. Flintoff and Hussain added 80 runs for the 3rd wicket. The Indian bowlers made a decent comeback in death overs. England finished with a massive total of 325 for 5 in 50 overs.
Chasing a mammoth target of 326 runs to win, Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly got the team off to a flying start putting enough pressure on the hosts bowling line up. The Prince of Kolkata, Ganguly was severe against the England bowlers while Sehwag also looked in cracking form.
The Indian captain made the batting look impressive and completed his fifty off 35 balls. Trying to hit another big shot, Ganguly was dismissed by Alex Tudor for 60. It was a flying start for the Indian openers who added 106 runs.
After the loss of Ganguly’s wicket, India lost wickets of Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar to be in trouble at 146 for 5. Yuvraj Singh who came after the fall of Dravid’s wicket was aggressive with his stroke play. Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj played with intent taking singles and hitting boundaries.
The task looked impossible for India but Singh and Kaif kept the chances alive with their aggressive stroke play. Both rotated the strike and hit the bad balls away for boundaries. Yuvraj Singh hit 3 successive boundaries off Andrew Flintoff and reached his fifty off 53 balls.
Mohammed Kaif also completed his half-century off 50 balls. Yuvraj Singh was dismissed for a superb knock off 69. Kaif and Yuvraj added 121 runs for the 6th wicket. Mohammed Kaif kept his composure while Harbhajan Singh contributed valuable runs. Kaif and Harbhajan Singh added 47 runs for the 7th wicket. Flintoff dismissed Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble in the same over.
With 11 runs needed off 12 balls, Kaif and Zaheer Khan hit 9 runs off the 49th over. Zaheer missed the first two balls but Zaheer hit the bowl straight to the fielder and overthrow helped India register a memorable 2 wicket win. It was their highest successful run chase in ODIs that time. After losing 9 finals, thanks to Yuvraj and Kaif brilliance, India broke the drought.
For his match-winning knock of 87* off 75 balls, Mohammad Kaif was awarded the man of the match. India 326 for 8 in 49.3 overs (Mohammad Kaif 87*, Yuvraj Singh 69, Ganguly 60, Ashely Giles 2/47, Flintoff 2/55) beat England 325 for 5 in 50 overs (Marcus Trescothick 109, Naseer Hussain 115, Zaheer Khan 3/62) by 2 wickets.
