Watch:Pakistan left-arm seamer Mohammad Amir put up one of his best-ever performances on the biggest of stages, prizing out the Indian top-three of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli in a sensational new-ball spell in the 2017 Champions Trophy Final.
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India and Pakistan had each won two out of three games in the group stage of the tournament, while both had won their respective semi-finals with comprehensive run-chases.
Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field first on the day of the final. Pakistan got off to a good start, with Azhar Ali and Fakhar Zaman both scoring fifties and the opening partnership reaching three figures.
Zaman was given an early life by Jasprit Bumrah, when he nicked one behind to the wicketkeeper only for it to turn out to be a no-ball. He was on three off eight balls at the time, and would then go on to score a century which earned him the Player of the Match award.
Pakistan finished on 338-4, giving India a stiff target of 339. All their hopes lay on their top three who had been in brilliant form in ODI cricket for the previous few years. If they had any weakness however, it was left-arm pace, and Amir exploited that perfectly.
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He first pinned Rohit plumb in front in the first over of the innings with a trademark left-arm seamer’s inswinger to the right-hander. Then in Amir’s second over, Kohli was dropped in the first slip by Ali, only for him to edge another one the very next ball through to Shadab Khan at point. Finally, he got Dhawan to nick one behind to the wicketkeeper in the fifth over of his spell to leave India in tatters at 33-3.
Amir’s new ball spell meant that India got nowhere close to the target despite Hardik Pandya’s brilliance later in the innings. Amir finished with figures of 6-2-16-3 and Pakistan won by a whopping 180 runs to clinch the Champions Trophy.
Watch Mohammad Amir’s game-breaking new-ball spell that prized out the famed Indian top-three in the 2017 Champions Trophy Final
Rohit Sharma ☑️
Virat Kohli ☑️
Shikhar Dhawan ☑️Birthday boy Mohammad Amir’s opening burst in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final was pivotal to his team winning the trophy! pic.twitter.com/GtaFbRCw76
— ICC (@ICC) April 13, 2019