As cricket fans across the world recover from the IPL fever, another epidemic is waiting to explode upon them: the T-20 World Cup. The shortest format’s extravaganza is guaranteed to provide both chills and thrills in equal measures. The last T-20 World Cup was held in 2016, which the West Indians took home from India. The event that was supposed to be held every two years had to be put on hold due to the crammed international schedule and, of course, the dreaded virus, Corona, that is yet to vanish from our lives. The world cup that came into existence in 2007 has produced several unforgettable moments. Hence, it is an ideal time to relive those fantastic memories.
Bowl Out (2007)
Image Credits: Twitter
This Indo-Pak match produced an outcome that was strictly not for the faint-hearted. The match ended in a tie and a bowl out was the available option to break the deadlock. The bowl out is somewhat similar to the penalty shoot-out in football with bowlers from both teams getting five opportunities to hit the wicket to earn the valuable points, the team with the maximum number of hits eventually walking away with the match. For Pakistan, Yasar Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi bowled but could not disturb the timber and for India, everyone from Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa to Harbhajan Singh managed to hit the bull’s eye. Eventually, India won but not without raising the BP levels of everyone involved in the game.
Yuvraj Destroys Broad (2007)
Image Credits: NDTV
This is an occasion that might still be haunting former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff apart from Stuart Broad. Yuvraj had just walked into the middle to bat and was going about his business as usual when Flintoff said something to the left-hander that charged up the Batter. After the showdown, Broad came on to bowl to Yuvraj, who was looking for an outlet to vent his ire. The southpaw unleashed his fury upon the young Broad by hitting him for six sixes in an over and also helped post an imposing total for India to defend against England.
The Dutch Upset for English (2009)
This upset was unexpected. England was at the receiving end and that too at the Mecca of cricket, The Lord’s. After posting a modest but challenging 163, the Englishmen never thought the inexperienced Dutch would come anywhere near the total. However, defying all the predictions, Netherlands somehow managed to overhaul the target by scoring two runs off the final delivery. Tommy de Grooth was the batting hero for the Netherlands as he anchored the chase perfectly with a match-defining 49.
Herath’s Magnificent Five (2014)
In 2014, Sri Lanka were crowned the T-20 world champions in Bangladesh. However, the Lankan Tigers would have struggled to reach the Semi-Final of the tournament had it not been for the wickedness and meanness of the spinner Rangana Herath. In the crucial knock-out game, when Kiwis dismissed Lankans for a paltry 119 the match seemed all but over for the Island Nation. But Herath with a match-winning haul of 5 for 3 reduced the Black Caps for a total of 60. The veteran Sri Lankan bowler got rid of Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Jimmy Neesham, Luke Ronchi and Trent Boult to dramatically swing the match in his team’s favour.
Braithwaite’s Annihilation of Stokes & England (2016)
In the thrilling final between England and the Windies, the latter required 19 off the final over of Ben Stokes. Not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. So, there was little to no expectation from Carlos Braithwaite, the batsman at the crease then. However, turning the match on its head, Braithwaite brutally despatched Stokes’ first four deliveries over the fence to win the match and the tournament. As a result, Windies became the T-20 champion for the second time after 2012.
