It’s been 19 years since Lord’s witnessed one of the greatest ODI chases of all- time as Sourav Ganguly-led India pulled off a stunning win. As much legendary as the chase is how skipper Ganguly celebrated from the Lord’s balcony by taking off his jersey and waving it fiercely, giving cricket one of its iconic moments.
Chasing a mammoth total of 325 to win in the final of the Natwest Trophy, India’s big gun had departed. And it was time for the next generation stars – Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh – to take over the match. Yuvi and Kaif stitched together a memorable partnership and pull India back into the contest after they were down and out.
After winning the toss, then England skipper Nasser Hussain opted to bat first. Riding on centuries from Marcus Trescothick’s (109 runs off 100 balls) and Hussain (115 runs off 128 balls) England posted a mammoth 325/5 in fifty overs.
Allrounder Andrew Flintoff also played a cameo of 40 runs off 32 balls.
The tourists started the chase emphatically as their openers Virender Sehwag (45 runs off 49 balls) and Ganguly (60 runs off 43 balls) added 106 runs in just 14.3 overs. However, the quick departures of Sehwag and Ganguly led to a batting collapse as India went from 105 for 0 to 146 for 5 in the space of 10 overs.
That brought together Kaif and Yuvraj together and they added 121 runs for the seventh wicket. Paul Collingwood brought England back into the game by removing Yuvraj in the 42nd over. And, after that, Kaif made sure to take India across the line without any further hiccups.
While Yuvraj scored 69 runs off 63 balls, Kaif made 87 runs off 75 balls as India won the match by two wickets and three balls to spare.
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