ICC Champions Trophy 2013: India run out deserving winners

So, the tournament has come to a close and India are victorious. It was an exciting tournament full of great games. In the end, India and England made it to the final. As an England fan, I was incredibly happy and rather shocked as I thought England would have been lucky to even make it through the group stages. But fantastic bowling, especially from James Anderson, and generally consistent batting, Jonathan Trott stood out in particular for me, got us through. India made it through to the final easily, MS Dhoni captained them beautifully once again and great efforts from Jadeja ensured their place.

Going into the final, I would have liked to have said England would take it, but I fancied India to get it. However, I thought it would be naïve to write off England as they had made it that far and they were on home soil. However, it was India’s day and I would like to congratulate them and all of their fans. Overall, the better team won the trophy and it’s another one for MS Dhoni to add to his astonishing collection.

The final was an encapsulating one full of excitement, thrills, oh, and rain! Due to England’s wonderful summer weather, the game was delayed for what felt like forever and finally got started towards the end of the afternoon. The game was reduced down to 20 overs per side but still with 50 over rules. India batted first but England bowled very well to keep them down to 129. Kohli top scored with 43. I thought at that stage that we would have a great chance of winning if we stayed sensible. But we’re England and I should have guessed.

What did we do? We threw it away, we lost early wickets and then Morgan and Bopara went on a recovery mission and I thought maybe we could do this. However, when they fell straight after each other, it was game over. England did come fairly close in the end, losing by just 5 runs but Broad and Tredwell just had too much to do in the last over. I was quite amused when, off the last ball, Tredwell had to hit a six, but he missed it. He then stood there, obviously disappointed. The Indian players started to jump around celebrating and Broad, at the non-striker’s end, ran full pace down the wicket! (Maybe he wanted to try and secretly run six whilst the Indians were celebrating?)

So there you have it, another international tournament is over and yet again England have sadly lost out in a final. The counties get their T20 tournament underway later this week and that should be good. Sussex face Surrey at Hove on Friday. As an England fan, I am also highly anticipating the big test of the summer… THE ASHES! Australia seem to be in disarray at the moment after just sacking coach Mickey Arthur. However, I don’t think England can afford to be too complacent. It should be a great series!