|
Winners: West Indies
Runners-up: England
No. Countries: 12
The 2004 ICC Champions Trophy was held in
England in September 2004. Twelve teams, including the 10 Full Members, together
with Kenya, and - making their One Day International debut - the USA, competed
in fifteen matches spread over sixteen days at three venues - Edgbaston, The
Rose Bowl and The Oval.
The ICC Champions Trophy was won by the West Indies in front of
a sell-out Oval crowd. Ramnaresh Sarwan was named the player of the tournament.
The format followed was similar to the previous edition. The
teams were split into four pools of three teams each. Each team played the other
two teams in its pool once, and the four teams that lead in each pool proceeded
to the semi-finals. The pool structure was as follows:
- Pool A: Australia, New Zealand, United States
- Pool B: South Africa, West Indies, Bangladesh
- Pool C: Pakistan, India, Kenya
- Pool D: Sri Lanka, England, Zimbabwe
The first semi-final was played between the hosts England and
the world champions Australia. Michael Vaughan missed out on a maiden ODI
century, but his classy 86, to go with his 2 for 42 with the ball, formed the
backbone of England's innings as they romped to a six-wicket victory against
Australia and booked a place in the final. The skipper, along with Marcus
Trescothick (81) and Andrew Strauss (52), sealed the fate of Australia as they
compiled 262 runs in response to Australia's 259. With this win, they ended
Australia's 14-match winning streak, dating back to January 1999.
Pakistan, after a thrilling victory over arch-rivals India and
crushing Kenya in the pool matches, looked all set for a sure victory over West
Indies in the next semi-final at the Rose Bowl. The real answer, as it turns
out, is that in this game there is no such thing as a sure thing. Pakistan
captain Inzamam-ul-Haq chose to bat first on a pitch renowned for favoring the
chasing team and had to pay a heavy price when West Indies beat Pakistan by
seven wickets. The low-scoring match saw Pakistan being choked for just 131. A
gusty half-century by vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan took his team home to book
their place in the final.
A valiant century by Marcus Trescothick in the final went in
vain as West Indies proved that victory belonged to the side who wanted it the
most. For a shell-shocked England, still heady from their efforts against
Australia, it was almost too much to take in, as from the depths of 147-8;
Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw forged an unbeaten ninth-wicket stand of 71 to
ensure a two-wicket victory. The Caribbean bowlers had earlier totaled England
for 217. Brian Lara would later say that the hurricanes that lashed the
Caribbean islands inspired his team to play to their potential in the ICC
Champions Trophy, where they pulled off the surprise win. He hoped that this
success would act as a spur for a new generation of Caribbean cricketers.
|
