Summer Blog Post 1: A Memorable Champions Trophy Victory

After completing our Mock Exams and watching the last few days of school pass by, everybody was craving for a summer break, and mine was already packed with some excitement as Pakistan had qualified for the final of cricket's veteran tournament, the Champions Trophy. Perhaps the most exciting bit was that they were set to face arch-rivals India at The Oval in London for the trophy and a victory would not only set up a huge triumph for the nation, but would signify the perfect start to my summer break, being a die-hard cricket fan.


The only unfortunate bit was that the odds were low for a Pakistan victory, as seen by the following statistics, displaying Pakistan's clashes with India in ICC tournaments, lacking any success in the World cup or World T20. Furthermore, Pakistan had previously faced India in this very edition of the tournament, during their opening match, whereby they lost by quite a large margin, another factor supporting India's chances to clinch their second consecutive Champions Trophy win. Overall, Pakistan's chances in general were low, and India were the true favorites in this nail biting contest, but did the numbers dictate the true story?

The day had finally come, it was the 18th of June, with 4 more days left till summer, I returned back from school just after the toss as India had won (the toss) and chosen to bowl first, an element of surprise on a historically well known batting ground. Nevertheless, a good sign for Pakistan due to the fact that batting was their central weakness. Pakistan batted, putting up a competitive score of 338, the highest in the tournament, with Fakhar Zaman scoring a belter 120 runs and Hafeez chipping in at the end with a useful 54, symbolizing a huge spark of hope for Pakistan and their possible trail to victory (as bowling has been their strength for many generations).

Mohammed Amir confirmed this, by picking up 3-16 in his 6 overs, including taking the wicket of India's top batsmen, and the number one batsmen in the world, Virat Kohli, as well as the top run scorer of the tournament, Shikhar Dhawan, early in the game to set up a comfortable Pakistan victory as India were bowled out for 158, Pakistan lifted the trophy, coming into the tournament as the 8th ranked side in the world (the tournament itself is between the top 8 sides globally), and finishing at the top of the table, proving to be one of the most memorable wins in Pakistan Cricket's history.

The following Link leads to the Full Match Highlights of the CT17 Final (5:04 minutes): https://www.icc-cricket.com/champions-trophy/video/420969