‘This celebration never gets old’ – Fans recall India’s famous Natwest Series final win at Lord’s with Sourav Ganguly’s shirt-waving celebrations from 21 years ago

On this day 21 years ago, India achieved something monumental at Lord’s. They beat England in a dramatic final to clinch the Natwest final. On a sunny day. England won the toss and elected to bat first. The deck at Lords was an absolute batting paradise then and the Three Lions made the most of it. The opener Marcus Trescothick made a fabulous 109 off 100 balls with seven fours and two sixes.  This set up the foundation for England.

Skipper Nasser Hussain slammed a splendid 115 off 128 balls with 10 fours. Hussain was going through a rough period, and he tapped the number three on his back when he reached the century landmark. Andrew Flintoff also provided some big hitting towards the end with a handy 40 off 32 balls with two fours and one six. These valuable contributions helped the Three Lions to reach an imposing total of 325-5 in their 50 overs. Zaheer Khan was India’s most successful bowler as he picked up 3-62 in his 10 overs.

Mohammed Kaif hit an unbeaten 87 off 75 balls to steer India through the run chase

India had a stern task ahead of them but they were up to it. Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag provided a wonderful start at the top. Sehwag made a stroke-filled 45 off 49 balls. Ganguly was in his elements as he pounded the English bowlers on his way to 60 off 43 balls with 10 fours and one six. But when the opening duo fell, there was a mini collapse that followed as Dinesh Mongia, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were back in the hut shortly after.

Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif who were a young duo at that time soaked in the pressure and gave it back to the English bowlers. Yuvraj made an authoritative 63 off 69 balls with nine fours and one six. He also had broken a bone in his little finger, but he battled through. Kaif slammed a fantastic unbeaten 87 off 75 balls with six fours and two sixes. Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan offered some support in the end which gave India a famous win.

What followed was electric scenes as Ganguly took off his shirt at the Lord’s balcony and twirled it vigorously. This was in revenge to what Andrew Flintoff had done in India at the Wankhede in Mumbai sometime back. It was one of Ganguly’s finest moments in his long cricketing career.

Let us take a look at the reactions on Twitter:

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