On this day in 2007: Dhoni and boys beat Australia in T20 WC semis, proved Shastri wrong
Sep 22, 2021
New Delhi [India], September 22 : It was on this day, 14 years ago, when MS Dhoni-led India defeated Australia in the semi-finals of the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa. Interestingly, Ravi Shastri had written in an article on ESPNcricinfo how Australia were favourites going into the game. And skipper Dhoni didn't forget to remind the former India all-rounder of the same during the post-match presentation.
Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Shastri jokingly wrote: "Don't believe everything you read on Cricinfo."
During the post-match presentation, MS Dhoni in a fun mood reminded Shastri how his side defied the odds to defeat favourites 'Australia'. While Shastri had deemed the latter as 'favourites', Dhoni and boys displayed a spirited performance to outclass the Aussies to reach the final.
India and Australia squared off against each other at Kingsmead, Durban in the semi-finals, and thanks to Yuvraj Singh's whirlwind 70-run knock of just 30 balls, the young team registered a 15-run victory.
India found itself struggling at 41/2 in the eighth over, but then Yuvraj went berserk hitting Australia bowlers all around the park and as a result, the Men in Blue scored 188/5 in the allotted twenty overs.
Australia was going great guns with Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds scoring 62 and 43 respectively, but once they both departed, Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan made the run-scoring tough.
India locked horns with Pakistan in the finals, and the Men in Blue emerged victorious by five runs in the finals which was played at the Wanderers, Johannesburg. In the 2007 edition of the T20 World Cup, Yuvraj Singh hit six 6s in an over off Stuart Broad during India's Super-six match against England.
Ravi Shastri and MS Dhoni will reunite at the upcoming T20 World Cup as the former India skipper will be donning the hat of 'mentor' for the showpiece event.
