In a nail-biting end against Pakistan at Kingsmead, Durban, on September 14, 2007, eleven years ago India won their first T20 international match, at the T20 World Cup. The already tense match between two longtime rivals saw even more frantic final moments, with a bowl-out, with both sides scoring the same after the stipulated 20 overs each, the match outcome was determined after a tense bowl-out.
Indian fans had happy recollections of the World Cup’s first T20 edition. In a group stage encounter of the first T20 World Cup, MS Dhoni-led Team India overcame arch-rivals Pakistan via a bowl-out in Kingsmead, Durban. Dhoni was an inexperienced skipper at that time.
IND vs PAK Bowl Out 2007:
#OnThisDay in 2007 India v Pakistan at #WT20 finished in a tie… and India won the bowl-out!pic.twitter.com/MbhfK3jW9M
— Times of Sports (@timesofsports) September 14, 2022
Pakistan won the toss and bowled India out for 141/9 runs after 20 overs. Captain Dhoni and Robin Uthappa shined with the bat after contributing knocks of 33 and 50 runs, respectively. Mohammed Asif was Pakistan’s standout bowler, taking four wickets.
As the Indian bowling team maintained a tight length and prevented the opponents from seizing control of the game, Pakistan’s chase never got off to a good start.
The T20 format had a bowl-out variation, which was similar to a penalty shoot-out in football, in which sides attempted to hit the wicket with no batsman in front of it. Team India’s Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, and Robin Uthappa all three of them hit stumps. While Pakistan’s Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, and Shahid Afridi all missed the mark, and that resulted in team India winning the bowl-out by 3-0.
After his team’s success, Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa remarked that MS Dhoni’s “street-smartness” was “what carried India to victory.” Basically, during the bowl-out, MS Dhoni adopts a strange stance by standing right behind the stumps to face his bowlers, while Kamran Akmal assumes the customary wicketkeeper position.
This is the same tournament where Yuvraj Singh smashed six sixes in an over off Stuart Broad during India’s Super-Six match against England.
Dhoni was captaining India for the first time at this point, and in 2007, he led the team to its first-ever T20 World Cup victory.
