#OTD in 2013 | India beat England to lift their second Champions Trophy title

On this day in 2013, India secured a thrilling victory against England by five runs to win the Champions Trophy at Birmingham. In this pursuit, MS Dhoni became the first Men’s Captain to win all three ICC trophies in white-ball cricket.

India came into the tournament with a fresh opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, wherein captain Dhoni asked the former to don this role for the first time in his career.

India had topped their group points table with wins in all three appearances and beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the semi-finals. On the other hand, the England team had two wins in three group fixtures and secured a victory against South Africa by seven wickets in the penultimate stage.

The final was reduced to 20 overs due to the persistent rain. Looking at the overcast conditions, England elected to field first. India had an average start, with Rohit (9) getting dismissed in the fourth over by Stuart Broad. 

Dhawan was terrific with his acceleration in the powerplay overs, which helped the team to a respectable platform. However, he made his way back to the pavilion for 31 off 24, and India were at 50/2 in the ninth over. 

The likes of Dinesh Karthik (6), Suresh Raina (1), and MS Dhoni (0) could not provide substantial contributions, which left India reeling at 66/5 at the end of 13 overs. 

It was a terrific fightback from Virat Kohli, who started cautiously but picked up his momentum in the latter stages of his innings. He scored 43 off 34 balls, comprising four boundaries and a single six. 

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja supported Kohli well with his unbeaten innings of 33 off 25 balls, propelling India to a respectable total of 129 runs in 20 overs. For the home team, Ravi Bopara scalped three wickets.  

The Indian bowlers did well to pick up the first four wickets of England in a matter of eight overs, with Ravichandran Ashwin picking two of them. 

Eoin Morgan (33) and Bopara (30) worked hard to keep the home team in the contest. 

With 28 needed off 18, the onus was on Ishant Sharma to deliver a strong over. After a dot in the first ball, Morgan hit a pull shot for a six. Two successive wides in the next two balls put the bowler under pressure. But, he kept his composure and bowled a slower ball, which Morgan tried to hit over the deep mid-wicket and was caught out. 

The next ball witnessed Bopara getting caught out in the square leg region.

With 19 needed in two overs, Jadeja came to bowl and gave way only four runs while picking up critical wickets of Tim Bresnan and Jos Buttler. 

In the second ball of the last over, Broad hit a four, and England needed ten off four balls. However, the next three balls witnessed a single and two doubles, leaving the Three Lions needing six off one ball. 

Ashwin managed to deceive James Tredwell with the final ball, and Team India won the game by five runs to lift the Champions Trophy. 

Jadeja was named ‘Player of the Match’, and Dhawan was adjudged ‘Player of the Series’.