It was September 19, 2007, when 21st Match of inaugural ICC World Twenty20 was played between England and India at Durban. MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first.
Indian openers - Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag put on 136 runs for the first wicket in just 88 balls and gave the other batsmen license to go big on almost every remaining ball.
When Robin Uthappa was bowled out by Chris Tremlett, India were 155-3 with only 20 balls to go. This is when Yuvraj Singh joined MS Dhoni who was then batting at 5.
Having taken a wicket on the previous ball, Tremlett came in quick, banged it short of length which went to the keeper. Next came the last ball of the 17th over on which Yuvraj gave himself room and went over the covers for a sweetly-struck four.
In the next over, Yuvraj faced four deliveries from Flintoff and scored 10 runs with the help of two boundaries and two singles. He was then at 14 from 6 balls.
(Onslaught Continued in Historical Present)
English Captain Paul Collingwood brings Stuart Broad to bowl the 19th over of the innings, and it is Yuvraj on the striker's end. Broad bowls first delivery a little fullish in length and Yuvraj clears his front leg and heaves it over mid-wicket for a mighty six. The six is officially measured to be 111 meters long.
Second ball of the over is deposited over the backward square leg for another six. Third ball and third six; once more Yuvi clears his front leg and deposits the ball over the extra-cover six.
Broad comes with a change of angle on the fourth ball, but the result is the same - a wide full-toss which is sent by Yuvraj over point for another six. Penultimate ball of the over and Broad's misery continues - fifth six of the over, this time over the mid-wicket fence with one knee down on the ground.
Ultimate ball of the over, and ultimate humiliation. Yuvraj strikes it over wide mid-on in exactly similar style as he struck the first six and it goes flying for yet another big six.
Yuvraj, with his last six, brought his fifty off just 12 balls - fastest ever fifty in any senior level cricket going past Imran Nazir's 14-ball fifty against Lahore Eagles in 2005. With 6 sixes in an over, he became the first and so far the only batsman in T20Is, 2nd in entire international cricket after Herschelle Gibbs, and 4th in senior cricket to have done so. Yuvraj was finally dismissed on the second last ball of the innings after he had scored 58 in just 14 minutes.
India scored 218 in 20 overs and went on to win the match by 18 runs. Without any surprises, Yuvraj was adjudged Man of the Match. India later on won the final of the tournament when they defeated Pakistan in a very close and thrilling finish. India thus became first World T20 Champions.
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