Champions Trophy 2009

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 took place in South Africa, between 22 September and 5 October. Originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan, it was first postponed and then shifted to another venue, primarily because of security concerns. A total of eight teams participated in the tournament, namely India, Australia, Pakistan, West Indies, New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka, and South Africa. Out of the eight teams, Australia came out as the winner, beating New Zealand by six wickets in the final, which was held on October 5, 2009.

The matches of Champions Trophy 2009 were held at two main venues, namely Wanderers Stadium and Centurion Park, both in the Gauteng province. The sixth ICC Champions Trophy, it comprised of two groups - A and B, with four teams each. In the knockout stage, each team played every other team in its group once. Points were given as per the performance of the team. There were two points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss. Based on these points, two teams from each group went for the semi-finals.

After the knockout stage, England (Group B), Australia (Group A), New Zealand (Group B), and Pakistan (Group A) managed to reach the semi-finals. The final was played between Australia and New Zealand, with the former emerging as the winner. New Zealand batted first and made 200 runs, in fifty overs, after losing 9 wickets. Australia chased the target and managed to reach it within 45.2 overs, with six wickets in hand. With this, Australia has registered not only its second, but also consecutive win in the Champions Trophy.

Participating Teams

Australia
Ricky Ponting (c), Doug Bollinger, Callum Ferguson, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Tim Paine (wk), Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White, Nathan Bracken, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin.

England
Andrew Strauss (c) James Anderson, Ravi Bopara Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad Paul Collingwood, Steve Davies (wk) Joe Denly, Eoin Morgan Graham Onions, Adil Rashid Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom Graeme Swann, Luke Wright Andrew Flintoff, Matt Prior.

India
MS Dhoni (c & wk), Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir (vc), Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh.

New Zealand
Daniel Vettori (c), Shane Bond, Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Brendon Diamanti, Grant Elliott, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Gareth Hopkins (wk), Brendon McCullum (wk), Kyle Mills, Iain O'Brien, Jeetan Patel, Aaron Redmond, Ross Taylor, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Daryl Tuffey.

Pakistan
Younis Khan (c) Shahid Afridi (vc), Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Anjum, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal (wk), Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Yousuf, Naved-ul-Hasan, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul.

South Africa
Graeme Smith (c), Johan Botha (vc), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher (wk), AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe.

Sri Lanka
Kumar Sangakkara (c & wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilina Kandamby, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dammika Prasad, Thilan Samaraweera, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Thushara.

West Indies
Floyd Reifer (c), Darren Sammy (vc), David Bernard, Tino Best, Royston Crandon, Travis Dowlin, Andre Fletcher, Kevin McClean, Nikita Miller, Kieran Powell, Dale Richards, Kemar Roach, Devon Smith, Gavin Tonge, Chadwick Walton (wk), Daren Powell.

Statistics

• Most Runs in the Series: 288, by Ricky Ponting (Australia)
• Highest Score in a Match: 141, by Graeme Smith (South Africa)
• Most Wickets in the Series: 11, by Wayne Parnell (South Africa)
• Best Bowling Analysis: 5-57, by Wayne Parnell (South Africa)
• Player of the Tournament: Ricky Ponting (Australia)