Four years after Sourav Ganguly's Team India had been blown away by Australia in the ICC Cricket World Cup final at the Wanderers, their Twenty20 side returned to the same venue and this time emerged victorious to claim the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 crown.
In a truly nail-biting finish, India lifted the trophy with a narrow five-run win over Pakistan.
Gautam Gambhir (75) and Rohit Sharma (30 not out) managed the Indian innings at either end of the 20 overs and helped their side to 157. Rudra Pratap Singh and Man of the Match Irfan Pathan took three wickets each to keep India in the hunt.
The fortunes kept fluctuating until the last over in which Pakistan needed 13 with the last wicket-pair at the crease. Bowler Joginder Sharma gave a wide in the first ball and was tonked over his head for a straight six by Misbah-ul-Haq off the second. Off the next ball, Misbah was ambitious and tried a paddle over the fine-leg fielder in the circle but he failed in his execution and the ball fell into the grateful hands of Sreesanth and India had won the title.
Earlier in the group matches, heavy showers halted the match against Scotland and both sides were awarded a point. The next match saw a unique bowl-out, which India won against old foes Pakistan by a 3-0 margin. Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa all hit the set of stumps while Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi missed it for Pakistan.
In their first Super Eight match, India was stunned by New Zealand by 10 runs to script their only defeat in the tournament.
They bounced back well in the next match. Yuvraj Singh, in an exhibition of raw power assorted with sheer class, hit six consecutive sixes and took the English bowlers, the fans, commentators, and his teammates by storm. India set a daunting target of 219 for England to chase and won comfortably by 18 runs.
They defeated South Africa by 37 runs in their final Super Eight match with Rohit Sharma being declared man-of-the-match for his match-winning innings of 50 not out. The match also saw spirited bowling from RP Singh (4/13), Sreesanth (2/23) and Harbhajan Singh (2/30) to book the side's berth in the semi-finals.
In a nerve-racking semi-final, Yuvraj smashed a 30-ball 70 before Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh and Joginder Sharma displayed some fantastic bowling to limit Australia to 173, 15 runs short.
The rest is history and India's victory in the final was greeted with an outpouring of joy back home. The 2007 triumph means they will carry huge expectations on their shoulders in 2009 and anything less than a victory will be a disappointment for over a billion followers.
India is a winner of 2007 ICC World Twenty20 Cup. It was an inaugural event which was took place in South Africa. India defeated its arch rival Pakistan in the final.
