The legendary Natwest series 2002 win by Team India against England occurred 21 years ago today. On July 13, 2002, the Sourav Ganguly-led team won the series’ last game after surviving a batting collapse while chasing 326 at Lord’s.
Indian cricket fans will always remember this match for Ganguly’s boisterous post-victory celebrations. As soon as Mohammed Kaif and Zaheer Khan concluded the ground-level formalities, Sourav Ganguly took off his jersey and began fervently twirling it on the Lord’s balcony in celebration of the stunning victory. Ganguly’s celebration was in response to Andrew Flintoff’s, who had earlier that year done something similar following England’s ODI series victory in Mumbai.
On the occasion of the match’s 21st anniversary, fans and former Indian cricketers Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh reminisced about it and shared their views on Twitter.
Here are some of player’s reactions:
In the chase portion of the Natwest Series 2002 final against England, Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh shone for India
After winning the toss, England’s captain Nasser Hussain decided to bat first due to favourable batting conditions. Marcus Trescothick (109) and Nasser Hussain (115), who each made century for the home team, helped them reach a mammoth 325/5 in 50 overs.
In the last overs, all-rounder Andrew Flintoff (32) made a brief appearance to add the finishing touches. For India, Zaheer Khan took three wickets, while Anil Kumble and Ashish Nehra each claimed one.
In the arduous pursuit, the Men in Blue got off to a strong start. To set up a strong foundation for the middle order, openers Virender Sehwag (45 in 49 balls) and Ganguly (60 in 43 balls) put up a 106-run partnership in only 14.3 overs. But neither of them could to capitalise on their promising starts, departing in quick succession.
The middle order batsmen Dinesh Mongia (9), Sachin Tendulkar (14) and Rahul Dravid (5) were unable to make a significant impact as India lost their promising start and fell to 146/5 in 24 overs.
Young batsmen Yuvraj Singh (69 in 63 balls) and Mohammad Kaif (87* in 75 balls) put together a tenacious 120-run stand for the sixth wicket at this point to keep their team’s chances alive. The visitors had 267/6 when Yuvraj left in the 42nd over without completing the task at hand. When playing with batters of inferior calibre, Kaif acted responsibly. With three balls remaining in the innings, he finally led his team to a total of 326/8, capping off one of the most remarkable ODI chases in history.
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