ENG v IND: 5 Most thrilling encounters to have ever been played between India and England
There are certain cricketing rivalries that go beyond the sport itself; fiercer and edgier than the average.
4. NatWest Series Final (Lord’s, 2002)
Who can ever forget the visuals of Sourav Ganguly waving his jersey like helicopter blades from the Lord’s balcony? A list chronicling the best of England-India encounters is bound to be incomplete without the iconic NatWest Series Final of 2002 finding its way into it. This was a game that kept everyone clinging to the edge of their seats till the very last moment as India won with just 2 wickets remaining. Batting first, England had scored a gargantuan 325 runs owing to blistering centuries from both Marcus Trescothick and skipper Nasser Hussain.
In reply, openers Virender Sehwag (45) and captain Ganguly (60) gave India a solid start. However their dismissal triggered a massive collapse and India kept faltering and losing wickets at regular intervals to a point where England were comfortably in the driver’s seat to bring the match home. What followed suit was a mind-boggling effort from Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif in the lower-middle order. A boundary off the last delivery of the 49th over and a miscalculated overthrow from England in the final over resulted in a historic Indian victory with 3 balls to spare.
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