The Champions Trophy Standoff: A Reflective Analysis of India and Pakistan's Last Encounter in the Tournament

India had comfortably made it to the final and were the clear favorites to win. On the other hand, Pakistan was considered the underdog of the tournament and had suffered a heavy defeat against India in their first match. This put them on the verge of elimination, but they fought back and defeated South Africa and Sri Lanka to secure a spot in the semi-finals against all odds. They then shocked everyone by defeating the powerhouse team of England, led by Eoin Morgan, by a commanding 8 wickets in the semi-finals, causing a major upset. However, what they achieved in the final completely overshadowed their semi-final victory.

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transform: rotate(32deg); animation: shinerMooving 3s infinite; z-index: 1; filter: blur(1px); } @keyframes shinerMooving { 0% { left: -40px; } 100% { left: 150%; } } Top 15 buys at IPL 2025 Auction Rishabh Pant ₹ 27 Cr DC LSG Total Match 111 Total Runs 3284 Highest Score 128 runs Shreyas Iyer ₹ 26.75 Cr KKR PBKS Total Match 115 Total Runs 3127 Highest Score 96 runs Venkatesh Iyer ₹ 23.75 Cr KKR KKR Total Match 50 Total Runs 1326 Highest Score 104 runs Wickets 3 Best Bowling 2/29 Arshdeep Singh ₹ 18 Cr PBKS PBKS Total Match 65 Total Runs 29 Highest Score 10 runs Wickets 76 Best Bowling 5/32 Yuzvendra Chahal ₹ 18 Cr RR PBKS Total Match 260 Total Runs 37 Highest Score 8 runs Wickets 205 Best Bowling 5/40 Jos Buttler ₹ 15.75 Cr RR GT Total Match 107 Total Runs 3582 Highest Score 124 runs KL Rahul ₹ 14 Cr LSG DC Total Match 132 Total Runs 4683 Highest Score 132 runs Trent Boult ₹ 12.50 Cr RR MI Total Match 104 Total Runs 83 Highest Score 17 runs Wickets 121 Best Bowling 4/18 Jofra Archer ₹ 12.50 Cr MI RR Total Match 35 Total Runs 195 Highest Score 27 runs Wickets 46 Best Bowling 3/15 Josh Hazlewood ₹ 12.50 Cr RCB RCB Total Match 12 Total Runs - Highest Score - Wickets 12 Best Bowling 3/24 Mohammed Siraj ₹ 12.25 Cr RCB GT Total Match 93 Total Runs 109 Highest Score 14 runs Wickets 93 Best Bowling 4/21 Mitchell Starc ₹ 11.75 Cr KKR DC Total Match 41 Total Runs 105 Highest Score 29 runs Wickets 51 Best Bowling 4/15 Phil Salt ₹ 11.50 Cr DC RCB Total Match 21 Total Runs 653 Highest Score 89 runs Ishan Kishan ₹ 11.25 Cr MI SRH Total Match 105 Total Runs 2644 Highest Score 99 runs Wickets - Best Bowling - Jitesh Sharma ₹ 11 Cr PBKS RCB Total Match 40 Total Runs 730 Highest Score 49 runs Check Full Coverage How the 2017 Champions Trophy final unfolded

India captain Virat Kohli had won the toss and chosen to bowl first at The Oval. Pakistan had been all out for 164 in the earlier match between the two sides but here, opener Fakhar Zaman alone scored 114 off just 106 balls as they put up a mammoth total of 338/4. He shared 128-run opening stand with Azhar Ali, who scored 59 in 71 balls and the 72-run stand with Babar Azam that came in just 61 balls. Babar and Shoaib Malik then put 47 off 39 balls for the third wicket and the innings ended with a bruising 71-run stand off just 47 balls between Mohamad Hafeez and Imad Wasim.

Such was the prowess of the Indian top three of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli that India were still expected to chase down the target. However, Mohammad Amir sent all three players in an extraordinary opening burst. Rohit fell to Amir off the third ball of the first over for a duck after which Kohli fell off the fourth ball of the pacer's next over for five runs off nine balls. Dhawan scored 21 in 22 before falling to Amir in the ninth over and India were suddenly 33/3. The rest of the Indian batting lineup rarely had to bat for long periods in that era due to the prolific form of the top three but they were suddenly entrusted to pull off a mammoth chase of 339.

India's collapse continued as Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav all fell before the end of the 17th over. After that though, there was an extraordinary fightback powered by Hardik Pandya. He shared an 80-run stand for the seventh wicket with Ravindra Jadeja which came in just 57 balls. Pandya contributed 67 in that partnership off just 35 balls. However, that fighback ended with Jadeja pretty much running Pandya out, with the latter falling after smashing 76 in 43 balls. India were eventually all out for just 158 runs. Amir finished with figures of 3/16 while pacer Hasan Ali recorded figures of 3/19.

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