Which ICC Champions Trophy match has been the most memorable for you?

[FearlessRoar]

Till this date, my all-time favorite matches in the ICC Champions Trophy are Pakistan vs. India in the 2009 group stage and the Pakistan vs. India final in the 2017 Champions Trophy.

What are your favorite ICC Champions Trophy matches, and why?

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Five best Champions Trophy matches

Every game matters at the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy and there have been some crackers down the years.

The fact that seven teams have won the tournament and it is only eight editions old tells you all you need to know about its unpredictability and prestige.

Here are five of the best games that the event has thrown up in its 27-year history.

2002: India v South Africa

Virender Sehwag’s brutish batting won many a game for India, but his off-spin settled fewer. This was one of them.

Sehwag smacked a 58-ball 59 and Yuvraj Singh contributed 62 to lift India to 261 for nine from their 50 overs, giving them an excellent platform as they chased a place in the final.

That spot looked to have gone after Herschelle Gibbs made a magnificent 116, with 16 fours, building a formidable partnership with Jacques Kallis.

But Gibbs retired hurt and Harbhajan Singh went to work as 192 for one became 213 for four. Just as Kallis looked to be hauling his side over the line, Sehwag got the wickets of the great all-rounder, Mark Boucher and Lance Klusener as India won a thriller by 10 runs.

They shared the trophy with hosts Sri Lanka after the final was washed out.

2004: England v West Indies

The champagne corks were popping at The Oval when Shivnarine Chanderpaul trudged back to the pavilion in the final of the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2004.

England looked poised to win their first-ever ICC event after a ton from Marcus Trescothick and a stellar collective bowling performance.

Chanderpaul departed the scene at 147 for eight with 81 runs still required and no recognised Windies batters remaining.

What followed was one of the great lower-order partnerships under pressure as Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw cobbled together the runs to seal victory with only seven balls left.

2009: South Africa v England

A flat track at Centurion produced one of the great runfests in ICC Men’s Champions Trophy history.

A Dale Steyn-led home attack was flayed to all parts particularly by Owais Shah, who played the best innings of his career with a 98 that was studded by six sixes.

Eoin Morgan, who kept wicket in that game, crossed the boundary five times and Paul Collingwood anchored the innings with 82 as England posted a remarkable 323 for eight, one of the biggest ODI scores in their history.

Graeme Smith led the resistance with a brilliant 141 but even that wasn’t enough, with James Anderson and Stuart Broad both taking three wickets as England advanced to the knockout stages.

2013: New Zealand v Sri Lanka

There is nothing quite like a low-scoring thriller and this is a classic of the genre.

Cardiff is not known as a batter’s paradise but Sri Lanka must have been pessimistic about the prospect of defending 138.

They were tormented by left-arm pacer Mitch McClenaghan, who took four for 43.

The Black Caps looked to be in charge at 48 for one but losing Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill for the addition of just a single run rocked them significantly.

They got over the line with one wicket left. Nathan McCullum’s 32 was the key contribution and was worth at least twice that given the pressure on his shoulders.

2017: Pakistan v India

A Champions Trophy final between the biggest rivals in world cricket was always going to deliver drama and it didn’t disappoint.

Everything Pakistan touched turned to gold as they racked up a remarkable 338 for four, with opener Fakhar Zaman making a breathtaking 114.

Then Mohammad Amir ripped through the Indian top order, dismissing Rohit Sharma three balls into the run chase and Virat Kohli in the third over of the innings.

Pakistan bowled India out for 158 to win their first Champions Trophy and complete the set of ICC events, having won the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 1992 and ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2009.

 

[Kianig89]

I liked 2009 CT game Ind v Pak,

Pak scored 270 India lost while chasing with Dravid the wall fighting till end , YK was Pakistan skipper and Oathgate happened after that events which unfolded in next year were explosive and destructive, The first drops of Misbah era!

 

[Major]

How could you ignore the iconic 2009 tournament where Maliks onslaught on India during the Pakistan vs India match there. It was the first India vs Pakistan match after the Mumbai attacks and Indians went crazy after that loss.

Than the best was Pakistan deliberately losing to Australia to kick India out. That was my all time favorite Champions Trophy match. We were in full trolling mode that day.

The melt down on twitter was hilarious. Indian fans crying and whining on their computers that day

 

[Major]

I liked 2009 CT game Ind v Pak,

Pak scored 270 India lost while chasing with Dravid the wall fighting till end , YK was Pakistan skipper and Oathgate happened after that events which unfolded in next year were explosive and destructive, The first drops of Misbah era!

Pakistan crossed 300 in that game, it was Shoaib Malik that had a go at India in that match.

These were those times when our spinners were actually good enough to beat India and we ended up getting 4 wickets by spinners.

 

[Bhaijaan]

OP has covered some good matches.

Another mention from my side would be the group stage match between West Indies and Australia in the 2006 CT in Bharat.

It became a tense match with a lot of words being exchanged. WI played with some intensity that night at the legendary Brabourne Cricket Stadium in Mumbai where they don’t play international cricket anymore.

Some memories for sure.

There are really just a handful teams who have taken the Aussies on in tournaments. West Indies used to be one of them.

 

[Major]

2006 tournament was also a good tournament aswell. Everyone knew Australia was going to win it and i think that tournament was played in India, and sponsored by KFC. It was probably my first ICC tournament that I watched

West Indies reached the finals and their trophy run started from the qualifying rounds they had to play to feature in the main event.

In those days South Africa was competing for Australia as the best Team. Australia was no.1 but South Africa was the second best team of that era, New Zealand was also amongst the best aswell. Pakistan and India both used to such against South Africa and their bowlers used to sledge both teams alot.

South Africa was well on its way to reach the finals and than in the semi finals they met West Indies. But than Chris Gayle had other plans. One of the best odi innings were witness that night. It was Gayle vs South Africa led by Brian Lara. Gayle smashed a hundred and Wesst Indies reached the finals.

 

[Rajdeep]

My personal favorite is India vs Pakistan game in 2013. India was facing Pakistan for the first time since aane do and there was lot of hype. Indian team was eager to take revenge. The Indian team also had completely new look than the one in Aane Do series with likes of Sehwag & Gambhir retired and new opening combo of Rohit and Dhawan taking the charge. There was also a lot of hype on Junaid Khan to see what he can do on English conditions. However, Dhawan decided to step out to counter the swing and smoked him all around the park.

I also have fond memories of Ind vs SA game from the same tournament. I was in Cardiff on that day and it was almost decided that Vijay will open. Suddenly during the game Rohit came out with Dhawan for the first time to open. It was a landmark moment in Indian cricket as this trio of Rohit-Dhawan-Kohli will go onto score lots of runs in next 7 years until covid.

2013 CT is easily the best Champions Trophy of all time closely followed by 2002 edition.

 

[Hellion]

WI vs PAK - 1998
IND vs OZ -2000
IND v SA - 2000
PAK v NZ - 2000
PAK vs SL - 2002
IND vs ENG - 2002
IND v SA - 2002
PAK v WI - 2004
PAK v SA - 2006
PAK v NZ - 2009
PAK v WI - 2013
IND v PAK -2013
2013 CT final
IND v PAK 2017 Group Stage

 

[Bhaijaan]

PAK v SA - 2006

Isn’t that the match in Mohali where South African pacers went wild on the Pakistanis on a bouncy green top?

How is that one of the great matches lol

 

[Hellion]

Isn’t that the match in Mohali where South African pacers went wild on the Pakistanis on a bouncy green top?

How is that one of the great matches lol

SA were struggling initially too but iirc Kemp and Boucher rescued them on a tough pitch and then Ntini blasted them down to 47/9 or something. Great comeback.

 

[Bhaijaan]

SA were struggling initially too but iirc Kemp and Boucher rescued them on a tough pitch and then Ntini blasted them down to 47/9 or something. Great comeback.

The Pakistani fans made an issue after the match saying the BCCI laid out this kind of track to get them knocked out, a fact we never denied.

 

[Mesozoic]

2013 - India vs South Africa at Cardiff.

SAF were a scarily strong team at that point of time. And although they missed Steyn that game , i had no hopes of us winning with a very young raw unsettled squad that we had.

But that opening stand, that Dhawan hundred and then our fielding performance in that game were just a treat to watch. Set the tone for the rest of the tournament.

 

[Major]

The Pakistani fans made an issue after the match saying the BCCI laid out this kind of track to get them knocked out, a fact we never denied.

Pakistan and green tracks. Uff this used to be a big controversy back in the day. It would come back to bite us again during the 2007 world cup against ireland.

But green tops havent been the same after that

 

[jnaveen1980]

Apart from 2000 CT where Yuvi made debut, Sachin hitting Mcgrath for 3 sixes CT never gave any excitement because of the sudden death format.

 

[Major]

My personal favorite is India vs Pakistan game in 2013. India was facing Pakistan for the first time since aane do and there was lot of hype. Indian team was eager to take revenge. The Indian team also had completely new look than the one in Aane Do series with likes of Sehwag & Gambhir retired and new opening combo of Rohit and Dhawan taking the charge. There was also a lot of hype on Junaid Khan to see what he can do on English conditions. However, Dhawan decided to step out to counter the swing and smoked him all around the park.

I also have fond memories of Ind vs SA game from the same tournament. I was in Cardiff on that day and it was almost decided that Vijay will open. Suddenly during the game Rohit came out with Dhawan for the first time to open. It was a landmark moment in Indian cricket as this trio of Rohit-Dhawan-Kohli will go onto score lots of runs in next 7 years until covid.

2013 CT is easily the best Champions Trophy of all time closely followed by 2002 edition.

Not surprised that the best ct for you were two in which india one.

Talk about not being biased lol

 

[mominsaigol]

My personal favorite is India vs Pakistan game in 2013. India was facing Pakistan for the first time since aane do and there was lot of hype. Indian team was eager to take revenge. The Indian team also had completely new look than the one in Aane Do series with likes of Sehwag & Gambhir retired and new opening combo of Rohit and Dhawan taking the charge. There was also a lot of hype on Junaid Khan to see what he can do on English conditions. However, Dhawan decided to step out to counter the swing and smoked him all around the park.

I also have fond memories of Ind vs SA game from the same tournament. I was in Cardiff on that day and it was almost decided that Vijay will open. Suddenly during the game Rohit came out with Dhawan for the first time to open. It was a landmark moment in Indian cricket as this trio of Rohit-Dhawan-Kohli will go onto score lots of runs in next 7 years until covid.

2013 CT is easily the best Champions Trophy of all time closely followed by 2002 edition.

2013 CT was horrible . The final was a rain affected game and so many games got washed out lol.

Ik your biased towards India, but atleast be realistic. 2013 ct was so bad that icc announced that CT would end and this would the last edition.

Then afterwards they changed their mind and had one in 2017 due to ECB pressure.

After 2017 they one again considered scrapping it but changed their mind again because they now want yearly tournaments.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Apart from 2000 CT where Yuvi made debut, Sachin hitting Mcgrath for 3 sixes CT never gave any excitement because of the sudden death format.

Bruh that 2000 ICC knock out is the OG of tournaments. What a badass format. Guess it’s the ideal format for the CT being a bit of a lottery tournament already.

 

[Rajdeep]

I think only 3 Champions Trophy editions worth remembering:

1. CT 2013 - The buzz/atmosphere is second to none.
2. ICC Knock out 2020 - Whattay tourney...still remember that epic Phainta Tendulkar gave to McGrath
3. CT 2002 - Some great matches even though India had to share the trophy with Lanka due to rain

Rest all were boring

2004 one was coming too soon after 2003 WC and zero interest. India didnt even send its main team
2009 - LOL. I doubt unless someone refers to cricbuzz anyone remembers anything from that tournament.
2017 - Meh. Biggest fluke in finals as Indian team was busy with Kumble saga

 

[mominsaigol]

I think only 3 Champions Trophy editions worth remembering:

1. CT 2013 - The buzz/atmosphere is second to none.
2. ICC Knock out 2020 - Whattay tourney...still remember that epic Phainta Tendulkar gave to McGrath
3. CT 2002 - Some great matches even though India had to share the trophy with Lanka due to rain

Rest all were boring

2004 one was coming too soon after 2003 WC and zero interest. India didnt even send its main team
2009 - LOL. I doubt unless someone refers to cricbuzz anyone remembers anything from that tournament.
2017 - Meh. Biggest fluke in finals as Indian team was busy with Kumble saga

2020? When did a tournament take place in 2020? And when did Tendulkar and mcgrath play in 2020?

Are we imagining things now?

 

[jnaveen1980]

Bruh that 2000 ICC knock out is the OG of tournaments. What a badass format. Guess it’s the ideal format for the CT being a bit of a lottery tournament already.

Never hooked onto it. I have forgotten vast majority of CT. 2013 i don't recall watching any match except final. CT2017 due to social media hype i watched. But again a short tournament.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I think only 3 Champions Trophy editions worth remembering:

1. CT 2013 - The buzz/atmosphere is second to none.
2. ICC Knock out 2020 - Whattay tourney...still remember that epic Phainta Tendulkar gave to McGrath
3. CT 2002 - Some great matches even though India had to share the trophy with Lanka due to rain

Rest all were boring

2004 one was coming too soon after 2003 WC and zero interest. India didnt even send its main team
2009 - LOL. I doubt unless someone refers to cricbuzz anyone remembers anything from that tournament.
2017 - Meh. Biggest fluke in finals as Indian team was busy with Kumble saga

It is a fluke tournament. A reason why perennial bridesmaids won the first 2 events.

 

[BouncerGuy]

2020? When did a tournament take place in 2020? And when did Tendulkar and mcgrath play in 2020?

Are we imagining things now?

all these tournaments are worth remembering because India did a good job in those tournaments. Others are boring because in 207 they had to suffer the worst defeat of all time in the final at the hands of PAKISTAN so it is boring.LOL

 

[Rajdeep]

2020? When did a tournament take place in 2020? And when did Tendulkar and mcgrath play in 2020?

Are we imagining things now?

It was a typo. I meant 2000 ICC knock out which was played in Nairobi. However you got the gyst and hopefully agree with Rajdeep.

 

[mominsaigol]

It was a typo. I meant 2000 ICC knock out which was played in Nairobi. However you got the gyst and hopefully agree with Rajdeep.

No Momin is in no mood to agree with rajdeep #Mominspeaks.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

final of CT17 was one of the greatest games which i have ever witnessed but unfortunately that was the last time Pakistan dominated India in ODI cricket.

 

[topspin]

2017 CT was the most memorable because of how Pakistan fared in the previous edition of the tournament due to Misbah's archaic cricketing mind.. As soon as he was gone for good from white ball cricket, there was a complete contrast in fortunes:

2013 CT
Host: England
Captain: Misbah
Outcome: Lost all matches including a game against India.

2017 CT
Host: England
Captain: Sarfraz
Outcome: Brought the CT home after beating India in the final by 180 runs

@Major - your thoughts please

 

[Major]

I think only 3 Champions Trophy editions worth remembering:

1. CT 2013 - The buzz/atmosphere is second to none.
2. ICC Knock out 2020 - Whattay tourney...still remember that epic Phainta Tendulkar gave to McGrath
3. CT 2002 - Some great matches even though India had to share the trophy with Lanka due to rain

Rest all were boring

2004 one was coming too soon after 2003 WC and zero interest. India didnt even send its main team
2009 - LOL. I doubt unless someone refers to cricbuzz anyone remembers anything from that tournament.
2017 - Meh. Biggest fluke in finals as Indian team was busy with Kumble saga

Because in 2009 indians were relying on Pakistan and Pakistan kicked indian out by losing by not playing serious cricket against Australia


Funny thing about the 2017 was that it came against india. After india won the group stage match, every indian fan started bashing Pakistan cricket. Oh what has happened to them, they suck yaye woh. So beating india in the final was the cherry on top. Indians talked too much in that tournament

Not surprising that the result of one match made the whole tournament for you.

 

[Rajdeep]

Because in 2009 indians were relying on Pakistan and Pakistan kicked indian out by losing by not playing serious cricket against Australia


Funny thing about the 2017 was that it came against india. After india won the group stage match, every indian fan started bashing Pakistan cricket. Oh what has happened to them, they suck yaye woh. So beating india in the final was the cherry on top. Indians talked too much in that tournament

Not surprising that the result of one match made the whole tournament for you.

Brother, 2009 and 2017 may be closer to your heart because your team achieved the unthinkables like beating India etc. but in reality those were flop tournaments overall. Ask anyone with acceptable level of knowledge in cricket and they will say only 3 CT events in the history are worth mentioning and they were:

2000 Nairobi - Awesome even with knock out format

2002 Srilanka - another brilliantly organized event with all bonafide ATG players competing.

2013 England - easily the best CT event of all time. The pitches, the crowd, the condiitions, the repurcussions...everything clicked and culminated in that event.

 

[Major]

Brother, 2009 and 2017 may be closer to your heart because your team achieved the unthinkables like beating India etc. but in reality those were flop tournaments overall. Ask anyone with acceptable level of knowledge in cricket and they will say only 3 CT events in the history are worth mentioning and they were:

2000 Nairobi - Awesome even with knock out format

2002 Srilanka - another brilliantly organized event with all bonafide ATG players competing.

2013 England - easily the best CT event of all time. The pitches, the crowd, the condiitions, the repurcussions...everything clicked and culminated in that event.

Flop tournaments?

So had india won the final it would not had been flop?

The 2013 event was actually consider so flop that they thought about ending the tournament.

So 2002 and 2013 becomes best as india won one of those and shared in another. While all the rest are bad including 2004 cause india couldnt win.

Funny how 2017 became a flop based on the finals result. Looll

 

[sweep_shot]

Some of my favorite CT matches:

1) England vs West Indies - 2004 CT final --> It was a box office match. Thrilling finish. Windies prevailed in the end.

2) Pakistan vs India - 2009 CT --> Great game. Pakistan won.

3) Pakistan vs India - 2004 CT --> Great game also. Pakistan won.

4) India vs New Zealand - 2000 CT final --> NZ won. Brilliant final.

5) Zimbabwe vs New Zealand - 1998 CT --> It had a thrilling finish. NZ won.

6) Bangladesh vs New Zealand - 2017 CT --> Bangladesh were chasing 266 and they were like 50/4. BD ended up winning.

7) Pakistan vs India - 2017 CT final --> Entertaining game. Pakistan won.

8) India vs Sri Lanka - 2017 CT --> Great game. SL won.

9) Pakistan vs New Zealand - 2009 CT semi-final --> NZ won but it was a great game.

10) South Africa vs England - 1998 CT quarter-final --> Great game. South Africa chased down a big total (big at that time).

 

[shah9425]

2017 CT was amazing

2009 was also good

 

[sweep_shot]

2017 CT was amazing

2009 was also good

My favorite CTs were 2004, 2017, 2009, and 1998 editions.

ICC events hosted by England are generally pretty entertaining.

 

[shah9425]

My favorite CT was the 2004 one. 2017 was very good also.

ICC events hosted by England are generally pretty entertaining.

2004 CT was amazing although I don't remember it that much

2006 CT was also fun but not for our team

 

[sweep_shot]

2004 CT was amazing although I don't remember it that much

2006 CT was also fun but not for our team

2006 CT was a boring one for me. I generally don't enjoy ICC events hosted in India. It ends up feeling like an Indian home series.

England is the best venue for ICC events. After that, South Africa.

 

[shah9425]

2006 CT was a boring one for me. I generally don't enjoy ICC events hosted in India. It ends up feeling like an Indian home series.

England is the best venue for ICC events. After that, South Africa.

But it went bad even for India in 2006 CT

 

[mominsaigol]

Brother, 2009 and 2017 may be closer to your heart because your team achieved the unthinkables like beating India etc. but in reality those were flop tournaments overall. Ask anyone with acceptable level of knowledge in cricket and they will say only 3 CT events in the history are worth mentioning and they were:

2000 Nairobi - Awesome even with knock out format

2002 Srilanka - another brilliantly organized event with all bonafide ATG players competing.

2013 England - easily the best CT event of all time. The pitches, the crowd, the condiitions, the repurcussions...everything clicked and culminated in that event.

2013 was the worst ct. 50% of the tournament was washed out including a final which was forced to be a t20 rather then an odi game in an odi tournament.

Arguing 2013 is the best is like arguing the world is flat. It's easily the worst ct tournament of all time.

The best ct tournaments are the ones that were orchestrated in their early days. The later editions have all sucked

 

[BouncerGuy]

2009 one and then 2017 one. Pakistan looked good in both these games against India. otherwise it was a pretty disappointing stuff most of the times.