ONTHISDAY
Follow UsOn this day, England defeated their arch-rivals Australia in the final of the 2010 World Twenty20 at Bridgetown. This was the first time England won a major ICC tournament. Australia were clearly the better side on paper but it was the brilliance of Craig Kieswetter and Kevin Pietersen that propelled the Paul Collingwood-led side to glory.
Background
England had never won a major ICC global title prior to this tournament. To make things worse, they lost to West Indies in their first match and their other group-stage game against Ireland was washed out. They managed to qualify for the super-eight stage on the basis of a superior net run-rate where they won all of their three encounters.
Pietersen starred in the first two matches and helped them beat Pakistan and South Africa. They then got the better of New Zealand and set up a semi-final date with Sri Lanka. England restricted Sri Lanka for just 128/6 and chased it down with four overs to spare.
Meanwhile, Australia remained unbeaten until the final. They defeated Pakistan and Bangladesh comfortably and then smashed India, Sri Lanka and West Indies in the super-eight stage. They would have lost the semi-final against Pakistan if not for Michael Hussey's blistering 24-ball 60*.
The match
Asked to bat, Australia lost three wickets in the space of just 13 deliveries. While openers Shane Watson and David Warner were dismissed for 2, Brad Haddin could only manage 1. It was Ryan Sidebottom who did most of the damage in the early overs and Australia needed a partnership to get back on track. David Hussey and Michael Clarke led the recovery but didn't manage to dictate terms. Clarke scored a run-a-ball 27 before he fell to Graeme Swann, while David Hussey managed a 54-ball 59.
Australia needed some quick runs and they finally got that from Cameron White and Michael Hussey (10-ball 17*). The Clarke-led side only managed two boundaries in the first 12 overs and finished with eight fours and three sixes in their 20 overs. White smoked four fours and a six in his 19-ball 30 and pushed Australia's run-rate over 7. For England, Sidebottom, Stuart Broad and Swann did a fantastic job and kept Australia to 147/6 in 20 overs. England bowlers were neither too full or short and gave nothing away by bowling those undriveable lengths.
Australia entered the final boasting 10 wins and a super over defeat in their last 11 Twenty20 outings and England batsmen knew it won't be easy against the likes of Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson. Tait got rid of Michael Lumb in the second over and that's when Pietersen joined Kieswetter and the two took the game away from Australia by adding 111 runs for the second wicket.
While the Australian batsmen struggled to score boundaries, England slammed 12 fours and five sixes in 17 overs. That's all it took for them to chase down the total. They targetted Watson and tonked the medium-pacer for 42 runs in three overs. Kieswetter blasted seven fours and two sixes in his 49-ball 63, while Pietersen scored 47 off 31. The two batsmen were dismissed in consecutive overs but by then the job was almost done. Skipper Collingwood and Eoin Morgan finished it off and it was only fitting that the captain himself scored the winning runs.
"This is a very special moment. This is right up there, with the best, the guys deserve everything they've got today. We've won a World Cup, and you can never take that away from us. I'm absolutely delighted with the guys. We knew it was a monkey on our back," Collingwood said after the match.
What followed
Pietersen, who scored 248 in six innings at an average of 62 and a strike rate of 137.77, was named player of the tournament.
England then had to wait for nine more years to win their first major 50-over tournament as they won the 2019 World Cup under the inspirational leadership of Morgan who was part of this 2010 World Twenty20-winning team as well.
