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Today marks the 21st anniversary of Team India's iconic Natwest ODI series victory against England. The Sourav Ganguly-led side won the final match of the series on July 13, 2002, after overcoming a batting collapse while chasing 326 at the Lord's.
The match is also vividly remembered by Indian cricket fans because of Ganguly's aggressive celebrations following the victory. As soon as Mohammed Kaif and Zaheer Khan finished the formalities on the ground, Sourav Ganguly removed his jersey and started twirling passionately it on the Lord's balcony to commemorate the remarkable triumph. Ganguly's celebration was in reply to Andrew Flintoff, who did a similar thing earlier that year after England won the ODI series in Mumbai.
Former Indian cricketers like Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh reminisced about the renowned match on its 21st anniversary along with the fans and expressed their reactions to it through Twitter.
Here are some of the reactions:
Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh starred for India in the chase during the Natwest 2002 final vs England
England skipper Nasser Hussain won the toss and opted to bat first in decent batting conditions. The home team scored a daunting 325/5 in 50 overs, courtesy of centuries from Marcus Trescothick (109) and Nasser Hussain (115).
All-rounder Andrew Flintoff (32) chipped in with a cameo in the death overs to provide the finishing touches. Zaheer Khan picked up three wickets for India, while Anil Kumble and Ashish Nehra scalped one wicket each.
The Men in Blue got off to a good start in the steep chase. Openers Virender Sehwag (45 in 49 balls) and Ganguly (60 in 43 balls) strung together a 106-run partnership in just 14.3 overs to lay down a solid platform for the middle order. However, both of them departed in successive overs without converting their starts into a big one.
Middle-order batters Dinesh Mongia (9), Sachin Tendulkar (14), and Rahul Dravid (5) could not contribute much as India collapsed to 146/5 in 24 overs, wasting their promising start.
Youngsters Mohammad Kaif (87* in 75 balls) and Yuvraj Singh (69 in 63 balls) stitched a valiant 120-run partnership for the sixth wicket at this juncture and kept their side's hopes afloat. Yuvraj departed in the 42nd over without finishing the job at hand, leaving the visitors at 267/6.
Kaif played sensibly in the company of lower-order batters. He eventually took his side home to 326/8 with three balls left in the innings to complete one of the most memorable ODI chases in history.
