When the Champions Trophy began a fortnight ago, not many would have given England and West Indies much of a chance to reach the finals. But such is the format of this tournament, a couple of good games and you are within striking distance of lifting the trophy. The second half of tournament sprung up quite a few surprises after a dull beginning to the tournament.

West Indies and South Africa battled it out for a semi-final birth. Considering their form before the tournament began, not many would have put their money on the Caribbeans despite the fact that South Africa had lost 10 of their last 11 matches prior to that game. But the West Indians were up to the task and despite a century from Gibbs managed to restrict the Proteas to a challenging total of 247 and chased them down quite easily in the end thanks to Ramnaresh Sarwan who played a match-winning knock of 75. He was ably supported by Chanderpaul and Lara.

The other big match of the tournament, Australia v New Zealand did not live up to the expectations. Australia did not have much trouble disposing off their Trans-Tasman rivals. The Champions Trophy was really struggling to live up to all the hype created over the past weeks. And it needed something special to bring the tournament alive. That special something came from the blade of Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff. The England v Sri Lanka game was expected to be a close one considering both teams were in great form. The home team were fresh having won the Natwest Challenge against India. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had white washed South Africa 5-0 in the one day series back home. Sri Lanka took the early advantage getting wickets at will until they ran into a storm called Flintoff. The ODI player of the year took the Lankan bowlers apart and brought up his third century in this form of the game. He was well supported by Collingwood as England managed to recover from a poor start to post a mammoth total of 299 with Flintoff playing one of the all time great one-day knocks. Though in great form, the Sri Lankan batsmen have always been suspect against the rising ball in seaming conditions. And Harmsion exploited this to the hilt breaking the backbone of the Sri Lankan top order. With the island nation loosing wickets at regular intervals and rain interruptions adding to their woes, England advanced to the semi-finals where they would face the might of Australia.

But before that, it was the big clash millions had been waiting for- India v Pakistan. No matter where they play, at what time of the year, in what condition, an Indo-Pak encounter is considered as a virtual final by most of the fans in the two countries. So even if you don't win the tournament, a win against their arch-rivals is considered enough to satisfy the appetite of the crowds in the two neighbouring countries. Pakistan had the upper hand having beaten India in their last two encounters. But this was a new day and if India played to their potential anything could have happened. So was this to be another of those cliff-hangers between the two evenly matched sides? Very much so. India batted horribly early in the innings. All the big guns were reduced to paupers as the Pakistanis ran through the Indian batting line up without any trouble at all. It once again took a determined effort by 'Mr. Consistent' Rahul Dravid to give India some sought of a respectable total. He got some much needed help from enigmatic all-rounder Ajit Agarkar who struck some crucial blows to take India to 200.

After the batsmen messed up, it was in the hands of the bowlers to restore some pride back in the Indian camp. Irfan Pathan came out all guns blazing and had Pakistan on the mat right away. But Inzi and Youhana put up a match winning partnership to register Pakistan's third victory over India in as many matches. The bowlers kept trying hard, and even though India lost the match, the contest had lived up to its reputation and brought the Champions Trophy alive.

The semi-finals saw four well deserving teams coming face to face. And here's where the tournament had plenty of surprises in store. England and Australia were to battle it out once again. The Poms went into the game with the knowledge that they hadn't beaten the World Champions in five years. If ever there was an England team capable of upsetting the Aussies, this was it. And the five year old drought finally ended when the hosts cruised into the finals with incredible ease. Chasing a tough target of 260, the English batsmen took apart Mcgrath and co and sent the Aussies packing. The World Champions were once again humbled in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy and their quest to win this elusive tournament will have to wait another two years.

If England's victory over Australia was a sweet surprise for the cricketing world, Pakistan's defeat at the hands of the Windies was a shocker. Inzamam seemed to have forgotten his thinking cap in the pavilion when he went out for the toss. The Pakistani skipper called correctly and to everyone's surprise, asked the opposition to bowl. Inzi's decision backfired horribly and the last Asian team in the tournament also bowed out. West Indies rolled over the Pakistanis for 131 and then chased them with effortless ease.

It was now down to two teams to battle it out for the second most prestigious trophy in the game. One team had come on in leaps and bounds over the last year and was the favourite to clinch the title. And the other team had a lot of talent but never really performed consistently enough. So who was going to take home the mini-world cup? The match fluctuated to and fro. It seemed at one stage that England will run home victors. But in the end, the Caribbeans managed to regain some of their past magic and snatched the trophy away from the hosts.

It was a fitting finale to the tournament which will be remembered for the resurgence of West Indies cricket if this victory revives the team and makes them a stronger competitive unit in the years to come.