Back to the Day: England's Historic Triumph Over Australia in the First ICC Trophy

(England Cricket Team with the T20 World Cup)

Cricket is a game that is a contest between the bat and ball and was started by England in the year 1877 when they played against Australia for the first time. Since then, England has had an amazing history in cricket because of the top players present there. However, it took them 133 years to register their first ICC Trophy eventually coming after beating Australia in the Finals of the 2010 T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown in Barbados. It was 16th May 2010 when the England team finally came out on top and lifted their first ICC Trophy and it marked the beginning of their domination in cricket because of the players present in the team.

Australia vs England 2010 T20 World Cup Finals

With all the League Stage matches and the Semi-Finals done, it was the time to take the Ashes rivalry in the T20 Format as Australia played against England in the Finals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2010 at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown in Barbados. Both the teams were coming after some amazing performances throughout the tournament and hence the Finals was always going to be a spectacular one for the fans out there. England got the toss in their favour and hence got the chance to field first at the ground which was favourable to the teams batting second.

Australian openers, Shane Watson and David Warner were coming after some good partnerships and expected to again build a solid platform for the middle-order batters. But Ryan Sidebottom had some other plans and hence he dismissed Watson for just 2 runs while David Warner got run-out while stealing a single which brought down the Australian team at a score of 7-2 in the first 2 overs. Just after these two wickets, Brad Haddin also returned to the pavilion after he was dismissed for 1 run to leave the team at 8-3 in the first 3 overs.

(Michael Hussey during the Finals of the 2010 T20 World Cup)

After the first 3 wickets, Australia stabilised as Michael Clarke and David Hussey formed a partnership but with the wicket of Clarke, things got far worse for the team as they were now 45-4 in the 10 overs of the game. After this wicket, Cameron White came out and joined David Hussey who blasted 30 runs from the 19 balls played and took the team’s score at 95 runs in the 15 overs. But Luke Wright got the better of him and hence now Michael Hussey joined his brother in the middle. David Hussey completed his half-century and then was dismissed on 59 runs from the 54 balls played.

At the end of the innings, Australia posted a total of 147 runs from their 20 overs after losing 6 wickets in the process and David Hussey was the top run scorer of the innings for the Australian team. Amongst the England bowlers, Graeme Swann picked a wicket from the 4 overs he bowled and gave away just 17 runs in the process. For the England team, chasing this target wasn’t a big deal and hence they started off positively with their batters being in top form.

(Craig Kieswetter scored 63 runs off 49 balls in the T20 World Cup Finals 2010)

England openers came out with all the guns blazing but were soon stopped by Shaun Tait who picked the wicket of Michael Lumb for just 2 runs to leave the England team at 7-1 in the first 2 overs of the game. It looked like the Australian team was back in the game but Craig Kieswetter and Kevin Pietersen had different plans with them and they started attacking the Australian bowlers in the powerplay overs. With a 111-run partnership in the match of just 10 overs, both the batters looked set, and Craig Kieswetter even completed his half-century in the Finals.

At the time of 118 runs being scored by the England team, the Australian team got the wicket of Kevin Pietersen as he tried to clear the ropes but was caught by David Warner on the bowling of Steve Smith in the 14th over of the game. But it was too late for the Australian team now as the match was already in the control of the England team. Even in the 14th over of the game, Australia again got the wicket of Craig Kieswetter but at the end, the captain of the England team, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan finished the game for the team in the 17th over and lifted their maiden T20 World Cup trophy.

(Winning moment for the England team in the 2010 T20 World Cup)

As soon as Paul Collingwood took a single on the ball of Shane Watson, the whole England team erupted in joy and came out on the ground as they were crowned the new champions of the T20 format and it was their coach Andy Flower who got the recognition because of his tricks and strategies throughout the T20 World Cup tournament. Craig Kieswetter was awarded the Man of the Match for his valiant 63 runs from the 49 balls while Kevin Pietersen was the Player of the Tournament for his amazing 248 runs in the whole League.

Australia vs England, Final at Bridgetown
Australia	England
147/6 (20 overs)	148/3 (17 overs)
David Hussey 59 (54)	Craig Kieswetter 63 (49)
Ryan Sidebottom 2/26 (4 overs)	Steve Smith 1/21 (3 overs)
England won by 7 Wickets

From the Australian team’s perspective, this tournament was a special one for them as among the top run-scorers, Michael Hussey was there and made 188 runs from the 6 innings while averaging 94.00 with the bat and a strike rate of 175.00 and above. Coming to the bowler's list, Dirk Nannes picked up 14 wickets from the 7 games while the other bowler who impressed with his performance was Steve Smith who bagged 11 wickets in the 7 matches played.