2007 T20 World Cup

Result

Player of the Match (Final)

Irfan Pathan, India

Tournament format

The inaugural World Twenty20. 12 teams in 4 groups of 3 (top 2 advance), then an 8-team "Super 8" stage whose two groups were seeded in advance rather than reshuffled by group-stage form. Top 2 from each Super 8 group reached the semi-finals, then the final.

Full match archive

Every match of the 2007 tournament, not just the final — all 26 group-stage, Super 8 and semi-final matches. See all 26 matches →

Final: match context

The inaugural World Twenty20 launched the shortest format's global tournament with a final that instantly became part of cricket folklore: India beat Pakistan by 5 runs at a sold-out Wanderers in Johannesburg, in front of 32,217 fans, to become the format's first-ever world champions. Batting first after winning the toss, India lost Yusuf Pathan and Robin Uthappa cheaply, but Gautam Gambhir anchored the innings with 75 off 54 balls, including a 63-run stand with Yuvraj Singh. MS Dhoni, playing his first assignment as India's captain in the format, made just 6, but a late flourish from Rohit Sharma -- an unbeaten 30 off 16 -- pushed India to 157 for 5 from their 20 overs. Umar Gul was the pick of Pakistan's bowlers, taking 3 for 28. Pakistan's reply began disastrously: Mohammad Hafeez fell for 1 in the first over, and Kamran Akmal was bowled by an R.P. Singh in-swinger without scoring. Imran Nazir threatened briefly with 33 off just 14 balls before being run out by Robin Uthappa -- a moment widely regarded as the innings' turning point. Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi all fell in a rapid slide that left Pakistan reeling, and only a fighting 43 off 38 balls from Misbah-ul-Haq, including four sixes, kept the chase alive, dragging Pakistan back to within touching distance. With 13 runs still needed off the final over, India's captain handed the ball to part-timer Joginder Sharma rather than a frontline strike bowler -- a decision second-guessed in the moment but vindicated within six balls. Misbah attempted an audacious scoop over short fine leg and was caught by S. Sreesanth, sealing India's win and sending the Wanderers into pandemonium. Irfan Pathan's three wickets with the ball, on top of his role restricting Pakistan's middle order, earned him the match award; R.P. Singh also took 3 for 26. The result carried consequences far beyond the trophy itself. Dhoni's team returned home to a rapturous reception and enormous individual bonuses -- each player reportedly received 8 million rupees, with Yuvraj Singh separately given a Porsche -- and the win is widely credited with accelerating the Indian board's embrace of Twenty20 cricket, directly paving the way for the Indian Premier League's launch the following year. For Pakistan, it was a second straight agonisingly close final defeat in a global tournament, while captain Shoaib Malik's post-match comments back home stirred a brief but notable domestic controversy. Eighteen years on, the 2007 final remains one of the format's defining origin stories -- the match that proved Twenty20 international cricket could produce genuine box-office drama on the biggest stage.

Sources

• Wikipedia: 2007 World Twenty20 final
• Wikipedia: 2007 World Twenty20
• ESPNcricinfo: India vs Pakistan, Final, ball-by-ball commentary