ICC Champions Trophy: close encounters

2004 ICC Champions Trophy:

England Vs West Indies, Kennington Oval, 25 September

Ian Bradshaw and Courtney Browne saw West Indies through in the finals of the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy.

The 2004 edition of ICC Champions Trophy was held in England. West Indies entered the tournament as underdogs but had won convincingly against South Africa, Bangladesh and Pakistan to set up a final against the host, England. England had upset the then world champions Australia in the semis to book a spot in the finals.

West Indies had won the toss and chose to field first, hoping to make better use of the conditions with the ball. England were losing wickets at regular intervals, with Trescothick playing the anchor role by bringing up his 8th ODI century. A late partnership of 63 runs between Trescothick and Giles would help England post a total of 217 in 49.3 overs.

West Indies, in the pursuit of claiming it’s first major trophy since the 1979 World Cup win, lost too many early wickets with Flintoff and Harmison sharing 5 wickets between them. Chanderpaul steadied the innings with a resilient 47 off 66, before being dismissed by Collingwood. The burden fell on the hands of Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw, with West Indies needing 71 off 99 deliveries with only 2 wickets in hand. The unusual thing on that day was Giles wasn’t given the ball. With the pair ticking the runs, scoring occasional boundaries, West Indies were cruising towards the target steadily. By hitting 2 boundaries in the penultimate over, West Indies secured their first major win in 25 years.