ICC Champions Trophy - Event History

 1998 - Bangladesh

Winners: South Africa
Runners-up: West Indies
No. Countries: 9

The first edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, then known as the ICC Knockout Trophy, was staged in Bangladesh. All matches were played at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka, but the slow and low pitches produced some poor cricket. Severe flooding threatened to cause the whole show to be moved to India, and it only got the go-ahead at the 11th hour. As it was, Dhaka was the third choice after Disneyworld (Florida) and Sharjah. The knock-out format, with eight matches compressed into nine days, fuelled the locals' excitement.

Nine teams took part in the event with only eight making it to the quarter-finals. New Zealand played Zimbabwe for the eighth spot and defeated them by five wickets to make it to the last eight. South Africa, Sri Lanka, India and West Indies progressed to the semi-finals.

In a rain-affected first semi-final, South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by 92 runs on D/L method. Put into bat, man-of-the-match Jacques Kallis smashed a 100-ball 113 that included five fours and five sixes and guided South Africa to 240-7 in 37 overs. In turn, Sri Lanka whose target was revised to 224 in 34 overs, was bowled out for 132 in 23.4 overs with Steve Elworthy taking 3-21 and Pat Symcox claiming 3-27.

In the other semi-final, the West Indies defeated India by six wickets. Saurav Ganguly (83) and Robin Singh (73) steered India to 242-6 in 50 overs after it had elected to bat first. The West Indies achieved target without breaking sweat in 47 overs with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (73), Brian Lara (60 not out) and Keith Arthurton (40 not out) being the main run-getters. Mervyn Dillon, who took 3-38, won the man-of-the-match award.

In the final, West Indies opener Philo Wallace hit a punishing century (103 from 102 balls with 11 fours and five sixes) but ended up on the losing side as South Africa achieved the 246-run target for the loss of six wickets with 18 balls to spare. Hansie Cronje was the top scorer with a 77-ball 61. Jacques Kallis for his 5-30 and 37 was declared man-of-the-match award. He was also received the player of the tournament award.

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 2000-01 - Kenya

Winners: New Zealand
Runners-up: India
No. Countries: 11

The 2000 event was held in Kenya. New Zealand were crowned champions and collected the winner's cheque of US$250 000. It was their first-ever win in a major ICC tournament. India players Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh and West Indies' Marlon Samuels made their ODI debuts during the competition.

Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Pakistan, Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe were the 11 teams that took part in the event. Six teams played in the three preliminary quarter-finals in which India defeated Kenya by eight wickets, Sri Lanka trounced West Indies by 108 runs and England outplayed Bangladesh to join the other five teams in the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals, India beat Australia by 20 runs, Pakistan defeat Sri Lanka by nine wickets, New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by 64 runs and South Africa beat England by eight wickets.

In the first semi-final, New Zealand held its nerves to beat Pakistan by four wickets after Moin Khan's team had build on Saeed Anwar's century to post 252 in 49.2 overs. Shayne O'Connor, later adjudged man of the match, was the picjk of New Zealand bowlers with 5-46. In turn, New Zealand recovered from 2-15 to achieve the target with four wickets and six deliveries to spare. Roger Twose was the star of New Zealand's victory with a 101-ball 87 that included 14 fours. Together with Nathan Astle (49), Twose added 135 runs for the third wicket. Craig McMillan provided the final impetus to the innings by scoring an unbeaten 56-ball 51. For Pakistan, Azhar Mahmood took 4-65.

India set a final date with New Zealand when it defeated South Africa by 95 runs in the other semi-final. Sourav Ganguly led from the front with a superb 141 off 142 balls which included 11 fours and 6 sixes as India collected 295-6 in 50 overs. In reply, the Proteas were bowled out for 200 in 41 overs with Mark Boucher scoring 60.

Ganguly carried his rich form in the final by scoring 117 runs in 130 balls (9 fours, 4 sixes). Together with Sachin Tendulkar (69), Ganguly put on 141 runs in 26.3 overs but after his departure at the score of 220 in 42.3 overs, India lost its way and finished at 264-6 in 50 overs. India started well and reduced New Zealand to 132-5 but Chris Cairns turned the match on its head by a ruthless display of batting. Cairns scored an undefeated 102 off 113 balls with eight fours and two sixes and added 122 runs for the sixth wicket with Chris Harris (46) as the Black Caps romped to victory in 49.2 overs with four wickets to spare. Cairns was declared man of the match.

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 2002-03 Sri Lanka

Winners: India/Sri Lanka
No. Countries: 12

The 2002 ICC Champions Trophy was held in Sri Lanka in 2002. After the first two tournaments were held under the ICC KnockOut name, this event was renamed with 12 teams, including the 10 Full Members, the Netherlands and Kenya, divided equally in four groups and the top team from each group progressing to the semi-finals. The tournament was due to be held in India, but was switched to Sri Lanka when an exemption from tax in India was not granted.

In the first semi-final played between India and South Africa, India pulled off a stunning 10-run victory over South Africa at the Premadasa Stadium. The Proteas, chasing 262 for victory, looked in complete command when it reached 192-1 in the 37th over when Herschelle Gibbs retired after scoring a 119-ball 116 with 16 fours. It turned out to be the turning point in the match as not only the runs dried for South Africa but wickets also started falling at regular intervals before the Proteas finished at 251-6.

Virender Sehwag, who earlier scored 59, chipped in with 3-25 to walk away with the man of the match award. Besides Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh (62), Rahul Dravid (49) were the other main run-getters in India's 261-9.

In the other semi-final, Sri Lanka, swayed by the electrifying atmosphere created by their fans at the R Premadasa Stadium crushed Australia by seven wickets. The home team spinners, led by Muthiah Muralidaran (3-26) limited Australia for only 162. Marvan Atapattu (52), Sanath Jayasuriya (42) and Kumar Sangakkara (48) made sure that the target was achieved without any hiccups.

The weather gods played spoilsports on the two days the final was played. On the first day, India, chasing 245 for victory, was 14-0 in two overs when rain prevented any further play while on the second, India chasing 223 for victory, was 38-1 in 8.3 overs rain again came down in force again to prevent any further play.

The trophy was shared by the two neighbors, not to mention the prize money of USD $300,000, which was equally split between the two sides.

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 2004 England

Winners: West Indies
Runners-up: England
No. Countries: 12

The 2004 ICC Champions Trophy was held in England in September 2004. Twelve teams, including the 10 Full Members, together with Kenya, and - making their One Day International debut - the USA, competed in fifteen matches spread over sixteen days at three venues - Edgbaston, The Rose Bowl and The Oval.

The ICC Champions Trophy was won by the West Indies in front of a sell-out Oval crowd. Ramnaresh Sarwan was named the player of the tournament.

The format followed was similar to the previous edition. The teams were split into four pools of three teams each. Each team played the other two teams in its pool once, and the four teams that lead in each pool proceeded to the semi-finals. The pool structure was as follows:

• Pool A: Australia, New Zealand, United States
• Pool B: South Africa, West Indies, Bangladesh
• Pool C: Pakistan, India, Kenya
• Pool D: Sri Lanka, England, Zimbabwe

The first semi-final was played between the hosts England and the world champions Australia. Michael Vaughan missed out on a maiden ODI century, but his classy 86, to go with his 2 for 42 with the ball, formed the backbone of England's innings as they romped to a six-wicket victory against Australia and booked a place in the final. The skipper, along with Marcus Trescothick (81) and Andrew Strauss (52), sealed the fate of Australia as they compiled 262 runs in response to Australia's 259. With this win, they ended Australia's 14-match winning streak, dating back to January 1999.

Pakistan, after a thrilling victory over arch-rivals India and crushing Kenya in the pool matches, looked all set for a sure victory over West Indies in the next semi-final at the Rose Bowl. The real answer, as it turns out, is that in this game there is no such thing as a sure thing. Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq chose to bat first on a pitch renowned for favoring the chasing team and had to pay a heavy price when West Indies beat Pakistan by seven wickets. The low-scoring match saw Pakistan being choked for just 131. A gusty half-century by vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan took his team home to book their place in the final.

A valiant century by Marcus Trescothick in the final went in vain as West Indies proved that victory belonged to the side who wanted it the most. For a shell-shocked England, still heady from their efforts against Australia, it was almost too much to take in, as from the depths of 147-8; Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw forged an unbeaten ninth-wicket stand of 71 to ensure a two-wicket victory. The Caribbean bowlers had earlier totaled England for 217. Brian Lara would later say that the hurricanes that lashed the Caribbean islands inspired his team to play to their potential in the ICC Champions Trophy, where they pulled off the surprise win. He hoped that this success would act as a spur for a new generation of Caribbean cricketers.

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 2006 India

Winners: Australia
Runners-up: West Indies
No. Countries: 10

The fifth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy was held in India from 7 October to 5 November 2006. The tournament venue was not confirmed until mid-2005 when the Indian government agreed that tournament revenues would be free from tax (the 2002 tournament had been due to be held in India, but was switched to Sri Lanka when an exemption from tax in India was not granted).

Australia won the tournament, their first Champions Trophy victory. They were the only team to only get one loss in the tournament, as all other teams lost at least two matches. West Indies, their final opponents, beat Australia in the group stage, but were bowled out for 138 in the final and lost by eight wickets on the Duckworth-Lewis method. West Indies opening batsman Chris Gayle was named Player of the Tournament.

The tournament was considered unpredictable because no Asian side qualified for the semi-final, for the first time in a major ICC tournament since the 1975 World Cup. The tournament also recorded five of the 10 lowest team totals in the tournament's history, and totals of 80 (for West Indies v Sri Lanka) and 89 (for Pakistan v South Africa) were the lowest recorded in matches involving the top eight ranked One-day International sides of the world.

Ten teams competed in the tournament based on the ICC ODI Championship standings on 1 April 2006. The first six teams on the ICC ODI table (Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, India, and England) qualified automatically; the next four teams (Sri Lanka, the defending champions West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh) played a pre-tournament round robin qualifying round from 7 October to 14 October to determine which two will proceed to play in the tournament proper.

Two teams from the qualifying round, plus the other six teams, played in a group stage, split into two groups of four in a round-robin competition. The top two teams from each group qualified for the semi-finals, played in Mohali on 1 November and in Jaipur on 2 November. The final was played in Mumbai on 5 November.

In the first semi-final, Australia beat New Zealand by 34 runs. Captain Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds smashed half centuries to bring the total score to 240. Man of the Match Glenn McGrath picked up three wickets to bundle the opposition out for 206.

In the other semi-final between West Indies and South Africa, Chris Gayle scripted his team's entry into the finals with his unbeaten 135-ball 133 runs. West Indies won by six wickets as they scored 262 runs in response to the Proteas' 258.

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 2009 South Africa

Winners: Australia
Runners-up: New Zealand
No. Countries: 8

TThe ICC Champions Trophy 2009 was held in South Africa. The event was rearranged following the postponement of the tournament in 2008 that had been due to be held in Pakistan.

The event had a new-look format, with the world?s best eight teams split into two groups, with the top two sides in each pool progressing to the semi-finals.

In Group A, the most anticipated clash was that between Pakistan and India, a repeat of the ICC World Twenty20 2007 final that had also taken place in South Africa, which was won by Pakistan by 54 runs after a brilliant 128 from Shoaib Mailk.

That victory, added to Pakistan?s comfortable five-wicket win over the West Indies and then a match abandoned game, due to rain, between Australia and India, set up a dramatic final day of group matches.

Australia appeared to be coasting to victory against Pakistan until a dramatic collapse suddenly meant that it was facing potential elimination from the event until a 19-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Brett Lee and Nathan Hauritz sealed victory off the last ball. This meant that India was eliminated, despite its victory over the West Indies, with Floyd Reifer?s under strength side struggling to cope with the quality of the opposition throughout the event.

In Group B, England arriving at the tournament on the back of a 6-1 home defeat to Australia, was expected to be the weakest team in the pool, but it stunned everybody with two fantastic displays to defeat Sri Lanka and South Africa.

As Sri Lanka had defeated South Africa in the opening match of the tournament, this meant that Graeme Smith?s side had again failed to progress to the semi-finals of an event on home soil.

New Zealand recovered from a defeat against South Africa to record wins over Sri Lanka and then England to seal a semi-final spot along with Andrew Strauss? side.

The semi-finals saw a match-up between Ashes rivals England and Australia. After crumbling to 101-6, Tim Bresnan?s brilliant 80 raised England?s hopes, but despite losing Tim Paine early on, Australia achieved a nine-wicket victory after centuries from Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting.

In the other semi-final Pakistan could only make 233-9 with Ian Butler taking 4-33 and although it lost early wickets in reply a match-winning innings of 75 not out from Grant Elliott sealed victory with 13 balls remaining.

In the final at Centurion, New Zealand made 200-9 batting first, with Nathan Hauritz taking three wickets, and although Australia lost two early wickets, a century from Shane Watson (105 not out) guided it to a comfortable six-wicket win.