The Champions Trophy has been played since 1998. Back then, it started as a mere knockout tournament. But now it’s known as a mini-World Cup, featuring the eight best teams.
So when the best of the best sides face each other, there are always close battles between them. And the same can be seen when the tournament reaches the final.
With things at stake, teams need to push hard to get over the winning line and lay their hands on the trophy. That said, here are the finals of every Champions Trophy edition.
1998: West Indies vs South Africa, Dhaka
The inaugural Champions Trophy edition, known as the Will International Cup back then, took place in Bangladesh. All of the ICC’s nine full members participated in the tournament, played on a knockout basis.
After seven games, the West Indies and South Africa entered the final. South Africa won the toss and invited the Caribbean team to bat first.
The Windies had a poor start, but Philo Wallace held on to one end and brought up 103 in 102 balls. His knock pushed their total to 245. Jacques Kallis starred with the ball for the Proteas, taking the tournament’s first-ever five-wicket haul.
Later, he also chipped in with the bat, helping South Africa cruise to the first ICC trophy. Hansie Cronje played a captain’s knock of an unbeaten 61 to thrash the target with three overs to spare.
2000: India vs New Zealand, Nairobi
The second edition moved to Kenya, an emerging cricketing nation. The hosts were knocked out of the first match itself. Anyway, they had no chance of making it further.
Coming to the final, India and New Zealand made the cut. After being put into bat first, India got a fantastic start.
The opening duo of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar stitched a 141-run stand for the first wicket. But once Tendulkar departed, India lost the momentum.
Ganguly kept the scorecard ticking, getting 117 runs under his belt. But other batters didn’t put in enough effort, which meant India finished with 264 runs.
In response, New Zealand seemed to be struggling till the halfway mark. But then Chris Cairns and Chris Harris shifted gears.
Cairns got an unbeaten hundred to crush India’s target and hand the Kiwis their first ICC title.
2002: Sri Lanka vs India, Colombo
India made it to yet another final. This time, they were up against the third edition hosts, Sri Lanka. Interestingly, the final happened twice without any result.
On the scheduled day, the hosts won the toss and batted first. India bowled well to restrict Sri Lanka to 244 runs.
The target wasn’t big, and India seemed to be the favourite to win the final. Two overs into the chase, rain interrupted the game, prompting the final to be replayed on the reserve day.
The story was no different on the reserve day. Sri Lanka batted first and scored 222 runs, 22 fewer than the previous outing.
Now this one was well within India’s reach, but rain had its say again. The reserve day was also a washout, which meant Sri Lanka and India shared the trophy.
2004: England vs West Indies, The Oval
England stormed into their first final played on their home soil. But they were challenged by the West Indies.
After being asked to bat first, England mustered 217 runs. Marcus Trescothick played a lone hand, scoring 104 runs from 124 balls.
While defending the total, England made matters tough for the Caribbean side. The hosts reduced the Windies to 147 for 8, with 70 runs still to chase and only two wickets in hand.
But then Courtney Browns and Ian Bradshaw held their own to build a match-winning partnership. They didn’t let another wicket fall, helping the Windies win the Champions Trophy.
2006: West Indies vs Australia, Brabourne (Mumbai)
Defending champions, the West Indies, made it to their successive final. But they couldn’t even put up a fight to defend their title.
Their opponents, Australia, wrapped up their innings for just 138 runs. Nathan Bracken was the pick of the bowlers from Australia. He took three wickets, with Glenn McGrath and Shane Watson grabbing two each.
While chasing the target, the Aussies had a disappointing start before rain interrupted the play. Once the game resumed, the target was revised to 116 runs from 35 overs.
Then Watson and Damien Martyn put up a steady partnership to hand Australia their first Champions Trophy title.
2009: New Zealand vs Australia, Centurion
Australia entered the 2009 edition as World Champions. They were the holders of the Champions Trophy as well as the ODI World Cup. And the sixth iteration saw them play like true champions.
The Aussies met their trans-Tasman rival, New Zealand, in the final. And they were successful in restricting the Kiwis to 200 runs.
The previous final’s Player of the Match, Watson, put up another wonderful performance after Australia had a poor start. This time, he scored an unbeaten 105 runs to power his side to their second Champions Trophy triumph.
2013: India vs England, Birmingham
After falling short of the title in 2004, England qualified for yet another final on their home soil. But they met with the same fate this time around as well.
The final was supposed to be a 50-over game. But rain delayed the game, ironically, turning it into a 20-over affair. And the shortened match turned out to be a nail-biter.
Batting first, India managed to put up 129 runs in their 20 overs. For England, Ravi Bopara produced an all-round performance. First, he racked up three wickets and then scored 30 runs to keep England in the chase.
Eoin Morgan also assisted well from the other end, scoring 33 runs. But once both fell on consecutive deliveries, England’s chase went off track.
Clever tactics from India’s skipper, MS Dhoni, got the better of England, resulting in his men sneaking in a five-run victory.
2017: Pakistan vs India, The Oval
England hosted yet another edition of the Champions Trophy. Well, the home side faltered in the semi-final, but it paved the way for an India-Pakistan clash in the final.
The arch-rivals were meeting in an ICC tournament final after almost a decade. Last time, India trounced Pakistan in the 2007 T20 World Cup final. This time, though, we got a different result.
After being invited to bat first, Pakistan stormed their way to 338 runs, thanks to Fakhar Zaman’s 114. Azhar Ali (59), Mohammad Hafeez (57*), and Babar Azam (46) also played crucial knocks.
In response, India had a rather disappointing start. They lost two of their best batters, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, within three overs. And India couldn’t really recover from that early damage.
Hardik Pandya did put up a lone fight, but it wasn’t enough as the Indian side got all out for 158. Pakistan registered a 180-run win to clinch their maiden Champions Trophy.
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