Johannesburg: In a nail biting finish, India won the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa by 5 runs. The stars for India turned out to be Gautam Gambhir who scored 75 off 54 balls, while Pathan contributed with 3 crucial wickets that turned the match. Pathan was adjudged the man of the match for his excellent spell.

Joginder Sharma too came up to the expectations of the brainy captain MS Dhoni by bowling the last over under tremendous pressure. Needing 13 off the last over, a wide and a huge six by Misbah reduced it to 6 off four balls. But Joginder Singh turned the entire situation around when Misbah tried to hit a big shot but holed out to Sreesanth.

Pakistan began their run chase disastrously, losing Mhmd Haneef in the very first over by R P Singh. But Nazir got into the act pretty quickly and hit Sreesanth for two consecutive sixes in the second over. They were at 25-1 in 2 overs.

K Akmal was then picked up by R P Singh with a beauty of a delivery in the third over. The delivery hit the top of the off stump as it swung in to the right hander, leaving Pakistan at 31 for 2 at the end of the third over.

Nazir and Younis Khan took up the onslaught immediately, but Robin Utthappa sent Nazir back to the pavillion with a gem of a throw as the batsman tried to complete a second run. Pakistan were left at 53 for 3 at the end of 6 overs. This brought down the Pakistani run rate a little, as the batsmen concentrated on the singles and twos instead of going for the big hits.

In the midst of this, Younis Khan was caught by Yousuf Pathan off the bowling of Joginder Sharma at long on, leaving Pakistan struggling at 65-4 in 9 overs. As the Pakistani batsmen tried to consolidate the innings and conserve their wickets, Malik was caught by Gambhir off the bowling of Irfan Pathan in the 11th over. in the same over, the very dangerous Afridi was caught by Sreesanth at long on when he skied a big hit off Pathan leaving Pakistan in dire situation at 78-6 in 12 overs.

Having lost too many wickets for their comfort, Pakistan's Misbah and Arafat then tried to stem the problems by strictly sticking to singles and twos. But Pakistan's troubles had no end, Pathan picked up his third wicket of the innings when he clean bowled Arafat when the score read 104-7 in 16 overs.

Irfan Pathan ended up with figures of 16-3 in 4 overs, the pick of the Indian bowlers.

The 17th over by Harbhajan proved costly for India though with three sixes by Misbah, as he took the fight to the Indians, while trying to keep the asking run rate in control. This over took Pakistan to 123-7 in 17 overs.

Misbah did not stop with this and slammed another two sixes in the next over, off Sreesanth. But the bowler had the last laugh as he clean bowled Tanvir off the last ball of his last over. Pakistan were left reeling at 138-8 in 18 overs.

Gambhir shines for India

Earlier, India scored 157 runs for the loss of 5 wickets while playing first in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa today. Gautam Gambhir's 75 off 54 balls and a quickfire 30 off 16 balls by Rohit Sharma were the only notable innings.

Openers Gautam Gambhir and Yousuf Pathan scored 13 of the first over, including a glorious six by Yousuf straight down the wicket on the first ball he faced. The debutant did not last long though, getting caught by Malik off Asif in the third over, having made 15 off 8 balls, when India were on 25.

India’s scoring pattern then slowed a little, as Gambhir and Robin Utthappa concentrated on the singles, and the boundaries were slow to come. Robin holed out to Afridi in an attempt to go for a bit hit. He scored 8 off 11 balls.

Yuvraj Singh then walked on to the field to a huge cheer from the crowd expecting a run-fest like the last two India matches. The pair then steadied the innings with a boundary here and there, to take the team to 69 for 2 at the end of 10 over. Gambhir's 50 came up in the 12th over, scored over 38 balls. At the end of the 13th over, the Indian score stood at 98 for 2.

Yuvraj fell prey to the mounting pressure of the low run rate and in the bid to go for the big hit, skied a delivery by Gul, which the bowler himself collected cleanly. The Indians were reduced to 105 for 3 at the end of 14 overs. The Pakistani strategy of using both spinners against Yuvraj, to take away his use of the bowler's pace, thus proved successful.

MS Dhoni came to join Gambhir in the centre then, but could not do much to increase the run rate. And when the score was at the unlucky Nelson (111), the Indian team was dealt a devasting blow when Dhoni was bowled by Gul. The Indian score board read 113 for 4 in 16 overs.

The sizable Indian crowd at the Wanderers stadium could only go deathly quiet at this body blow. The Indian run rate, that had never flourished in the match, was thus restricted further. The Indian batsman could not connect for the big hits and were coming under more and more pressure to push for the boundaries.

With nothing really happening for India, Gambhir decided to break loose, and hit a glorius six to give some cheer to the Indian crowd. But the same over Gambhi tried to flick a ball down the leg side and ended up spooning a catch at backward point. He made 75 off 54 balls. India were 130 for 5 at the end of 18 overs.

Irfan Pathan came in to join Rohit Sharma on the pitch. The two contributed some valuable runs in the last two over, with a good six that was palmed over the fence for the maximum as a Pakistan player tried to take the difficult catch. The Indian innings ended at a respectable score of 157 for 5 at the end of 20 overs.

At the end of the Indian innings, Umar Gul turned out to be the best bowler, returning figures of 28-3 in his 4 overs. Asif and Tanvir contributed with one wicket each.