Pakistan stun India in final to claim maiden Champions Trophy crown

LONDON – Pakistan thrashed favourites India by 180 runs in a thrilling competition at London's Oval ground to clinch the Champions Trophy title on Sunday.

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The green shirts set up a daunting 339-run target for the men in blue, but Indian batting collapsed under a calculated bowling attack, to get all out at 158 runs in the 31st over.



Hardik Pandya was the top-scorer for India with 76 runs before he was run out by Hasan in the 27th over after a mix-up with partner Ravindra Jadeja. The left-hander scored 54 runs off 32 balls, the fastest half-century in a world One Day International (ODI) final.

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Pandya was followed by Yuvraj Singh and Shikhar Dhawan, who racked up 22 and 21 runs respectively before being dismissed.

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This is the greatest number of wickets India has lost at the end of 14 overs since January 2013 in a 50-over game.

Left-arm fast Muhammad Amir kicked off Pakistan's bowling attack, taking three crucial early wickets.

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Two overs into the match, opener Rohit Sharma succumbed to a LBW, whereas skipper and heavy-hitter Virat Kohli was caught out by Shadab Khan.

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Dhawan was caught out by Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed at the tail end of the 9th over, and Shadab Khan took Yuvraj Singh's wicket in the 13th over in an LBW appeal led by Sarfaraz which was initially ruled not out by the umpire.

MS Dhoni was caught by Imad Wasim off a delivery by Hasan Ali, whereas KM Jadhav was caught out by Sarfaraz.

Jadeja left the field after Babar caught him at the widish slip, marking Junaid Khan's first wicket in the 28th over.

Ravichandran Ashwin was caught out by Sarfaraz off a delivery by Hasan Ali.

Pakistan full-speed ahead:

India won the toss and opted to put Pakistan into bowl first. The green shirts set a daunting target of 339 for the loss of four wickets for India to chase down ─ the team's second-highest total against India.

A 128-run opening partnership between Fakhar Zaman and Azhar Ali set the mood for the first innings, with Azhar and Muhammad Hafeez both racking up half centuries, whereas Fakhar smashed 114 off 106 deliveries, and Babar Azam scored a solid 46 off 52.

The opening pair broke two records ─ one for the best score posted by Pakistani openers against India in an ICC tournament (86 runs), and the second for the best partnership against India in an ICC tournament when 100 came up for Pakistan in the 18th over.

The last time Pakistani openers scored more than 100 runs prior to the fall of the first wicket in two consecutive matches was in 2003. This is only the second time the same has happened outside Asia.

Head-to-head, the record is in favour of India against Pakistan in all ICC tournaments. However, the last time Pakistan beat India was in 2009 ─ also during a Champions Trophy match.

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Squads:

Pakistan: Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (w + c), Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan.

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (capt), Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wkt), Hardik Pandya, Kedhar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jaspreet Bumrah.

Players line up for the big clash at the Kennington Oval, London #INDvPAK #CT17 #AikJeetAur pic.twitter.com/kh36stpdqV

— PCB Official (@TheRealPCB) June 18, 2017