A veteran of the inaugural competition, he played in Pakistan’s 1998 quarter-final with the West Indies in Dhaka, in which he was dismissed for 4 and failed to take a wicket. He missed the 2000 competition, but demolished the Netherlands with both bat and ball in Colombo in 2002. He took 3-18 in his ten overs before smashing fifty from just 18 deliveries to seal a nine-wicket victory, which remains the fastest in ICC
CT history. He started the 2004 competition in even better form with the ball as he took 5-11 against Kenya in Birmingham, four of whom were dismissed bowled.
However, Pakistan’s batting failed it in the semi-final against eventual-champion West Indies,as it fell to defeat by seven wickets. Pakistan failed to qualify from its group in the 2006 competition and Afridi faced just 22 deliveries across three innings, while taking just a solitary wicket. The team started well in 2009, defeating the West Indies first up and then beating arch-rival India in Centurion, with Afridi taking 2-39 in his ten overs.
Despite a last-ball loss to Australia in its final group match, Pakistan qualified for the semi-finals and took on New Zealand in Johannesburg. Afridi was dismissed for just 4 and it took a last-wicket partnership to push Pakistan up to 233-9, but that was never going to be enough, as New Zealand coasted home by five wickets.Over the course of seven ICC Champions Trophy tournaments, 229 scores of 50 or more have been made, an average of 32.7 per edition. To celebrate 50 days to go until this year’s tournament, we look back at some of the most famous fifties.
In the first ever edition in 1998 – which was known as the ICC Knock-Out Trophy – 23 fifties were scored across eight games.The most batsman-friendly tournament was the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 in India, when 44 fifties were scored across the tournament. Former India captains Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly hold the record for most fifties at the Champions Trophy, having both hit six scores of 50 or more
India have also been the most prolific team, with their 33 half-centuries putting them at the top of the list just ahead of England on 32, and Australia and South Africa – who are both on 29. The first-ever 50 came from the opening batsman in the first-ever game at the tournament. Zimbabwe’s Alistair Campbell opened the innings against New Zealand in the preliminary quarter-final in 1998, and went on to score exactly 100.
The most recent came from India’s Virat Kohli, who scored 58 in the 2013 semi-final against Sri Lanka in Cardiff. It’s no surprise that the fastest-ever ICC Champions Trophy 50 was scored by Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi in the 2002 edition. He smashed 55* off just 18 balls against the Netherlands in Colombo – with a huge strike-rate of 305.55.
CT history. He started the 2004 competition in even better form with the ball as he took 5-11 against Kenya in Birmingham, four of whom were dismissed bowled.
However, Pakistan’s batting failed it in the semi-final against eventual-champion West Indies,as it fell to defeat by seven wickets. Pakistan failed to qualify from its group in the 2006 competition and Afridi faced just 22 deliveries across three innings, while taking just a solitary wicket. The team started well in 2009, defeating the West Indies first up and then beating arch-rival India in Centurion, with Afridi taking 2-39 in his ten overs.
Despite a last-ball loss to Australia in its final group match, Pakistan qualified for the semi-finals and took on New Zealand in Johannesburg. Afridi was dismissed for just 4 and it took a last-wicket partnership to push Pakistan up to 233-9, but that was never going to be enough, as New Zealand coasted home by five wickets.Over the course of seven ICC Champions Trophy tournaments, 229 scores of 50 or more have been made, an average of 32.7 per edition. To celebrate 50 days to go until this year’s tournament, we look back at some of the most famous fifties.
In the first ever edition in 1998 – which was known as the ICC Knock-Out Trophy – 23 fifties were scored across eight games.The most batsman-friendly tournament was the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 in India, when 44 fifties were scored across the tournament. Former India captains Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly hold the record for most fifties at the Champions Trophy, having both hit six scores of 50 or more
India have also been the most prolific team, with their 33 half-centuries putting them at the top of the list just ahead of England on 32, and Australia and South Africa – who are both on 29. The first-ever 50 came from the opening batsman in the first-ever game at the tournament. Zimbabwe’s Alistair Campbell opened the innings against New Zealand in the preliminary quarter-final in 1998, and went on to score exactly 100.
The most recent came from India’s Virat Kohli, who scored 58 in the 2013 semi-final against Sri Lanka in Cardiff. It’s no surprise that the fastest-ever ICC Champions Trophy 50 was scored by Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi in the 2002 edition. He smashed 55* off just 18 balls against the Netherlands in Colombo – with a huge strike-rate of 305.55.
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