ICC T20 World Cup 2007: Cricket's First T20 World Champions — India's 5-Run Final Win
The ICC World Twenty20 2007 was the inaugural T20 World Cup, hosted in South Africa from 11–24 September 2007. India defeated Pakistan by 5 runs in the final at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg on 24 September 2007. India scored 157/5; Pakistan needed 13 from the final over bowled by Joginder Sharma — Misbah-ul-Haq hit four fours but attempted a scoop on the penultimate ball and was caught by Sreesanth at short fine leg. Pakistan finished on 152 all out. The tournament included Yuvraj Singh hitting 6 sixes in one over off Stuart Broad in the semi-final against England. India's group stage tie against Pakistan was decided by a bowl-out (India won 3–0 from 5 attempts). MS Dhoni was India's captain — his first ICC title. 20 nations participated across the Super 8s format.
The ICC World Twenty20 2007 was the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup, hosted in South Africa across 11 venues from 11 to 24 September 2007. Twenty nations participated — the broadest field of any cricket World Cup at the time — divided into preliminary rounds, a Super 8s group stage (8 teams), semi-finals, and a final. India, captained by MS Dhoni, defeated Pakistan by 5 runs in the final at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg on 24 September 2007 to become the first T20 World Champions.
Yuvraj Singh: 6 Sixes in an Over
The tournament's most memorable individual moment came in the semi-final between India and England at Durban on 19 September 2007. In the 19th over of India's innings, Yuvraj Singh hit Stuart Broad for 6 consecutive sixes — the first instance of a batsman hitting six sixes in one over in international cricket. Each ball was dispatched over different parts of the boundary: the sequence was repeated in full on every cricket broadcast for years afterward. Yuvraj scored 58 from 16 balls in that innings; India made 218/4 and England were bowled out for 200 in reply. The 6-sixes over was not the only notable moment: earlier in the same innings, Yuvraj had been involved in a verbal altercation with England bowler Andrew Flintoff that reportedly motivated his assault on Broad.
The Final: Joginder Sharma's Last Over
In the final at Wanderers Stadium on 24 September 2007, India batted first and scored 157/5 — a total built on Gautam Gambhir's 75 from 54 balls. Pakistan's chase required 13 off the final over. MS Dhoni gave the ball to Joginder Sharma — a relatively inexperienced medium pacer — rather than using his senior bowlers. Misbah-ul-Haq, who had scored 43 from 35 balls and appeared set to win the match, hit the first four balls of the over for 4, 4, dot, 4. With 6 needed from the last 2 balls, Misbah attempted a scoop shot over short fine leg; the ball was hit in the air and caught by Sreesanth. Pakistan were 152 all out — 5 runs short. India won.
The India–Pakistan Bowl-Out
In the group stage, India and Pakistan were placed in the same group. Their match ended in a tie — both teams scoring 141. The 2007 T20 WC rules in this group stage used a bowl-out (similar to a penalty shootout) rather than a Super Over to decide the tied match: five bowlers from each team bowled at an unguarded set of stumps from 22 yards. India won 3–0 from their 5 attempts. The bowl-out method was controversial and subsequently replaced by the Super Over in all ICC tournaments. The tie's resolution by bowl-out was the only instance of this method in a major ICC event.
Frequently asked questions
Why did MS Dhoni give the final over to Joginder Sharma rather than a senior bowler, and what does the decision reveal about Dhoni's captaincy philosophy?
MS Dhoni's decision to give Joginder Sharma the final over of the 2007 T20 World Cup Final — with Pakistan needing 13 runs and Misbah-ul-Haq well set — is the most analysed captaincy call in T20 World Cup history. Dhoni's alternative options were Harbhajan Singh (3 overs bowled, expensive at 8.33 per over) and Irfan Pathan (also expensive, 1 wicket for 16). Sharma had bowled well in his first three overs (1 wicket, 16 runs). The logic Dhoni gave afterwards: he trusted Sharma's slower delivery to work against a batsman who had already been going for big shots, and he felt the senior bowlers had already been read by Pakistan's batsmen. The broader captaincy philosophy: Dhoni throughout his career made decisions based on the match situation rather than reputation — he was notably willing to back his immediate read of conditions over conventional expectation. The 2011 World Cup Final decision to promote himself to bat at number 5 ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh follows the same pattern: Dhoni identified a specific tactical opportunity (left-hander vs Nuwan Kulasekara/Malinga's angle) and acted on it. In both cases the decision worked. Dhoni's willingness to make unconventional calls in the highest-pressure moments — and to be proven right — is central to his reputation as the sport's best white-ball captain. The Joginder Sharma over ended with Pakistan's last realistic chance dismissed: Misbah's scoop was exactly the high-risk shot the setting invited, and Sreesanth's catch completed a result that owed as much to Dhoni's read of the moment as to Sharma's execution.