Today we bring you the Cricketers who scored the most runs in Champions Trophy 2002. The 2002 ICC KnockOut Trophy was played during September 12- 30, 2002; 15 matches were played in the tournament. This was the third edition of the ‘mini’ Cricket World Cup run by ICC and the edition was hosted by Sri Lanka. Twelve teams were part of the 2002 ICC KnockOut Trophy viz. India, Pakistan, South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia, West Indies, Kenya, Netherlands, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka. India & Sri Lanka were declared joint-winners after incessant rains washed out not only the final, but its replay on the reserve day. Muttiah Muralitharan led the wickets table. Here we discuss the batsmen who hit the most runs in Champions Trophy 2002.
5. Andy Flower (Zimbabwe)
Zimbabwe Batsman Andy Flower scored 189 runs from the two matches he played in the tournament with an average of 94.50 and best score of 145 coming against India on September 14. With these runs, Flower featured into the top 5 list of most runs in Champions Trophy 2002. This was his only hundred in the tournament, also being the highest score by any batsman in the tournament edition. In his highest score match, India had batted first and scored 288/6 with Mohammad Kaif‘s 111 not out & Virender Sehwag’s 48. Douglas Hondo picked 4. Zimbabwe, in reply, could reach only 274/8 despite Flower’s 145. Zaheer Khan picked 4 while Sachin Tendulkar picked 2.
4. Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka batsman Marvan Atapattu scored 204 runs from the five matches he played in the tournament with an average of 40.80 and best score of 101 coming against Netherlands on September 16. With this run aggregate, Atapattu featured into the top 5 list of most runs in Champions Trophy 2002. Sri Lanka had batted first and scored 292/6 with Marvan’s hundred & Kumar Sangakkara‘s 41. Roland Lefebvre & Adeel Raja took 2 wickets each. Netherlands, in reply, were bowled out for 86. Muttiah Muralitharan picked 4 while Pulasthi Gunaratne & Kumar Dharmasena picked 2 wickets each.
3. Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa)
South African batsman Herschelle Herman Gibbs scored 240 runs from the three matches he played in the tournament with an outstanding average of 120 and best score of 116 not out coming against India on September 25 in the first semifinal. With this run aggregate, Gibbs featured into the top 5 list of most runs in Champions Trophy 2002. In his highest score innings match, India had batted first and scored 261/9 with Sehwag’s 59, Yuvraj Singh‘s 62 & Rahul Dravid‘s 49. Shaun Pollock took 3 while Allan Donald took 2. South Africa, in reply, could only reach 251/6 despite Gibbs hundred and Jacques Kallis‘s 97.
2. Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka Opening Batsman Sanath Jayasuriya would score 254 runs from the five matches he played in the tournament with an average of 63.50 and best score of 102 not out coming against Pakistan on September 12. With this run aggregate, Jayasuriya featured in the top 5 list of most runs in Champions Trophy 2002. In his best score innings, Pakistan had made the first use of the pitch and were bowled out for 200 despite Saeed Anwar’s 52 & Misbah-ul-Haq‘s 47. Dilhara Fernando & Muttiah Muralitharan took 3 wickets each. Sri Lanka chased down the target and won by 8 wickets. Sanath scored a hundred not out to guide the team through with support from Aravinda de Silva who made 66 not out.
21,032 runs and 440 wickets for Sri Lanka across all formats! Happy Birthday to one of the great all-rounders, Sanath Jayasuriya! pic.twitter.com/6gO7O3CgUn
— ICC (@ICC) June 30, 2017
1. Virender Sehwag (India)
Indian Opening Batsman Virender Sehwag scored 271 runs from the five matches he played in the tournament with an average of 90.33 and best score of 126 coming against England on September 22 in the 11th match of the tournament. His runs would have a hundred & a fifty at a strike rate of 100+, as he scored the most runs in Champions Trophy 2002. In his highest score match, England had batted first and scored 269/7 with Ian Blackwell’s 82 & Nick Knight’s 50. Ashish Nehra & Anil Kumble took 2 wickets each. India chased down the target and won by 8 wickets with Sehwag’s hundred & Sourav Ganguly‘s 117 not out.
These were the top scorers in the second edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, in 2002, the ones who made to the top 5 list of most runs in Champions Trophy 2002. It was a KnockOut tournament with 12 teams participating divided into 4 groups and table toppers team of each group would progress to the semifinals and then the winning 2 would go to tournament final to fight out for the trophy. Hope you liked the content, keep writing your thoughts & questions to us in comments.