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After dominating on the biggest stage in 2011, winning the ODI World Cup against Sri Lanka, team India extended its rule in the 50-over format as they clinched the ICC Champions Trophy, on June 23 in 2013.
The MS Dhoni-led team India won all three of their group stage matches to storm into the knockout stage. Playing neighbours Sri Lanka in the semi-final, the Men in Blue outrightly annihilated the former, winning by eight wickets to stamp their ticket for the summit clash.
Team India locked horns with England at the Edgbaston in Birmingham, in its quest to lift the Champions Trophy. However, due to the persistent rain at the venue on the day of the final, the summit clash saw a reduction in overs as the match officials decided to have a 20-over game in place soon after the showers stopped.
Alastair Cook’s England opted to field first considering the overcast conditions. Team India endured a rather underwhelming start as the opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan compiled scores of nine and 31 runs, respectively before heading back to the pavilion.
Despite this, it was Virat Kohli’s invaluable knock of 43 off 34 balls that helped the Men in Blue to get into the contest. Kohli’s innings featured four boundaries, a solitary maximum and came at a strike rate of 126.47. Meanwhile, the English side continued to get the breakthroughs which did not really help India’s case to put up a solid total.
Down the order, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja smacked two fours and as many maximums in his 25-ball 33* to help team India scale 129 runs in their 20 overs. In reply to the paltry score, the Three Lions failed to extend their domination in the contest as they lost four wickets for just 46 runs.
While the game seemed to be slipping from their hands, Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara tried hard to get the derailed chase back on track with their scores of 33 and 30 runs, respectively. However, with the sharp rise in the required run rate and the continual fall of wickets, England were restricted to 124 runs and it thereby handed a dramatic five-run win to the MS Dhoni-led side. With this, team India clinched its second Champions Trophy title, joint-most in the history of the competition along with Australia.
