Champions Trophy: Past Winners

TOI revisits all the seven finals of the Champions Trophy:
1998: South Africa won the toss and chose to field and despite an attacking 100 from opener Philo Wallace who scored, they were bowled out for just 245 in 49.3 overs as Jacques Kallis produced a fine exhibition of reverse swing bowling. In reply, South Africa were never really stretched and won their only ICC trophy.West Indies 245 in 49.3 overs (P Wallace 103, C Hooper 49; H Cronje 2-44, J Kallis 5-30) lost to South Africa 248 for 6 (M Rindel 49, J Kallis 37, H Cronje 61) by four wickets at Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka.

2000: New Zealand won the toss and chose to field and it looked like the move had backfired as India were coasting at 141 for no loss in 26 overs. Sachin Tendulkar then got run out for 69 and that seemed to strangle Ganguly's men. Despite the captain's sublime hundred, India struggled to get momentum in the end overs and could score just 264. On a smallish ground, it was a tough score to defend. Chris Cairns hit a strokeful unbeaten 102 and together with Chris Harris (46) took the Kiwis home. India 264 for 6 in 50 overs (S Ganguly 117, S Tendulkar 69; S Styris 2-53) lost to New Zealand 265-6 in 49.4 overs (C Cairns 102, C Harris 46; V Prasad 3-27, A Kumble 2-55) at Nairobi.

2002: That 112 overs were played and yet no result was possible underlined the futility of the rain rules in the tournament. Why the match was replayed from the start and why the game could not be taken forward from where it stopped on Day 1 will remain one of the greatest mysteries in the tournament's history. It resulted in the first ever shared trophy in the Champions Trophy. India vs Sri Lanka Day 1: Sri Lanka 244 for 5 (S Jayasuriya 74, M Atapattu 34, K Sangakkara 54; Harbhajan Singh 3-27) vs India 14 for no loss in 2 overs. Day 2: Sri Lanka 222 for 7 (M Jayawardene 77, R Arnold 56; Zaheer Khan 3-44) vs India 38 for 1 in 8.4 overs at The Premdasa Stadium, Colombo.

2004: Perhaps the most thrilling final of all editions. West Indies won the toss and on a pitch that was doing a fair bit, inserted England in. Marcus Trescothick played a lone hand with 104 and the hosts could get just 217 in 49.3 overs. Andrew Flintoff then bowled like the wind and ripped out the big scalps of Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara and Dwayne Bravo. West Indies seemed down and out at 147-8, but found heroes in Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw to help them win a world trophy 25 years after winning the 1979 World Cup. England 217 in 49.4 overs (M Trescothick 104, A Giles 31; W Hinds 3-24) lost to West Indies 218 for 8 in 48.5 overs (S Chanderpaul 47, C Browne not out 35, I Bradshaw not out 34; S Harmison 2-34, A Flintoff 3-38, P Collingwood 2-22) by two wickets at The Oval.

2006: West Indies seemed to be racing away to a massive total as they were 49 for no loss in 5 overs. Then Nathan Bracken spotted the demons in the surface and started bowling cutters which gripped the pitch and made run-scoring difficult. The stroke-players in the line-up just froze and the team ended up with just 138 in 30.4 overs. Shane Watson belted an unbeaten 57 and Damien Martyn hit a classy unbeaten 47 to take the team to a ruthless and efficient win. West Indies 138 in 30.4 overs (S Chanderpaul 27, C Gayle 37, D Bravo 21; N Bracken 3-22) lost to Australia 116 for 2 in 28.1 overs (S Watson 57*, D Martyn 47*) at Brabourne Stadium.

2009: Australia underlined their reputation as one of the most dominant ODI teams of all times by becoming the only team to defend the title. On a flat Centurion pitch, the Kiwis could never recover from Brendon McCullum's early departure for a duck and scored just 200 for 9. In reply, Shane Watson hit an unbeaten 106 and the Aussies got home with 4.4 overs to spare. New Zealand 200 for 9 in 50 overs (B McCullum 40, N Broom 37, J Franklin 33; B Lee 2-45, N Hauritz 3-37) beat Australia 206 for 4 in 45.2 overs (S Watson 109*, C White 62, K Mills 3-27) by six wickets at Supersport Park, Centurion.

2013: It was a farcical final. Rains lashed the venue after the toss which was won by England. It looked as if the trophy would have to be shared as the ICC had failed to keep a reserve day. However, the weather cleared up in time to allow a 20-over shoot out. India managed to get 129. England, after slumping to 46 for 4, recovered and needed 20 off 16 balls with six wickets in hand. But India won by five runs to help MS Dhoni become the only captain to pocket all the ICC titles after ICC World T20 2007, ICC World Cup 2011. India 129 for 7 in 20 overs (S Dhawan 31, V Kohli 43, R Jadeja 33*; R Bopara 3-20) beat England 124 for 8 in 20 overs (E Morgan 33, R Bopara 30; R Jadeja 2-24, R Ashwin 2-15) by five runs at Edgbaston, Birmingham.