Top three ICC Champions Trophy matches of all time

The ICC Champions Trophy is about to start soon, as the tournament gets its first-ever reboot since 2017. Defending champions Pakistan will play New Zealand in the opening game of the competition, with the match being played on 19th February at Karachi Stadium. There have been eight editions of the Champions Trophy thus far, with the tournament giving us plenty of iconic moments and matches. A lot of thrilling encounters and career-defining performances have been achieved in the history of the ICC Champions Trophy.

Here’s a look back at the top three ICC Champions Trophy matches of all time: 

India vs England, Final, 2013

On a rainy afternoon in Birmingham, India and England played out a thrilling finale of the 2013 Champions Trophy as MS Dhoni’s team outwitted the host nation to claim their second title in this competition. With rain curtailing the game to a 20-over affair, India batted first and struggled to get runs on a tricky surface. They scraped through to 129, thanks to contributions from Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan.

In reply, England were cruising through the chase at 110/4, before MS Dhoni decided to pull out a trump card. He brought back Ishant Sharma, into the attack who was having a mediocre game till that point, and the lanky pacer delivered a bouncer barrage to the English batters. Sharma got the wickets of Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara in the same over, as England were rattled in their chase. Jadeja followed that up with a tight over and then Ravichandran Ashwin defended 7 runs off the final over to help India to the trophy in thrilling fashion.

India vs Pakistan, Final, 2017

Defending champions India were superb in the next edition of the Champions Trophy as well, coasting to the final where they were up against the arch-rival in Pakistan. Batting first at the Oval, Pakistan made the most of some early missed opportunities from India as Fakhar Zaman scored a century to ensure his team finished with a solid score of 338. India’s finger spinners, Ashwin and Jadeja proved expensive in that final. 

In reply, Mohammad Amir unleashed a spell from hell as he nipped out Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Shikhar Dhawan within the powerplay. Shortly after, Shadab Khan got the wicket of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni was dismissed by Hasan Ali. India were looking down and out at 72/6 but Hardik Pandya led an unlikely countercharge for the champions. He scored a hat-trick of sixes against Shadab Khan and was looked in lethal form before he was run out due to a mix-up with Ravindra Jadeja. India ended up losing the game by a massive margin, as Pakistan finally got the wood over their neighbouring rivals in an ICC Tournament. 

India vs Pakistan, Group Stage, 2017

India played Pakistan in the group stages of the 2017 Champions Trophy as well. Batting first, India got a speedy start, thanks to Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, as both batters scored fifties. They were followed by Virat Kohli who scored a half-century as well, but the hero of the innings for India was Yuvraj Singh, who scored a quickfire fifty towards the death to ensure a hefty score of 319. In response, Pakistan’s chase stuttered as Ahmed Shehzad and Babar Azam were dismissed early. Azhar Ali got a fifty but didn’t get much support from the middle order as Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja ran through that middle order. The game was ultimately interrupted by rain but India still managed to win by massive 124 runs via the DLS method.