Johannesburg: India created history by clinching the inaugural Twenty20 cricket World Cup with a breath-taking five-run victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in a summit showdown which saw fortunes fluctuating from one team to the other till the dying moments.
In a nail-biting contest, the young Indian team scored 157 for five and then held their nerves to wrap up the Pakistan innings for 152 with just three balls to spare to win their first major title in over two decades.
It was an incredible display by the Indians who relied on superb team work to not only maintain their all-win record against their bitter foes in World Cup matches but end a series of giant-killing acts in a blaze glory.
The large flag-waving gathering of Indians at the Wanderers burst into celebrations when S Sreesanth caught a dangerous Misbah-ul-Haq off Joginder Sharma to bring an end to the Pakistan challenge.
The contest seemed to go out of India's hands in the 17th over when Misbah-ul-Haq clobbered Harbhajan Singh for three sixes but Mahendra Singh Dhoni's band of young warriors roared back in great style to eventually lift the coveted trophy and the winners' purse of USD 49000.
Irfan Pathan was the man of the match while Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi was declared the man of the series. BCCI has declared a prize money of 1 crore for Yuvraj Singh, who gave six sixers back to back in the previous match.
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