Four grounds and awkward pitches
The 2006 tournament had been promised to India in 2002 and finally arrived once the Indian government agreed that ICC revenue would be exempt from tax. It ran for a month, from 7 October to 5 November, across Mohali, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Mumbai, and it produced conditions almost nobody expected.
The surfaces held moisture, seamed, and were slow when the ball was old. Five of the ten lowest totals in the competition's history were recorded during this one edition. West Indies were dismissed for 80 by Sri Lanka; Pakistan were bowled out for 89 by South Africa. Those were, at the time, the two smallest totals made by any of the eight leading ODI nations. Chasing under lights in Mumbai and Ahmedabad was harder still, which is why so many captains bowled first and so many matches were still decided by the bowlers.
A qualifying round
Ten teams entered. The ICC seeded the six best on ranking straight into the group stage and made the other four, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, play a round-robin to fill the last two places. Sri Lanka topped it and West Indies came second; Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by 101 runs but went out, and Zimbabwe lost all three.
The main draw then split into two groups of four. Group A produced the tournament's headline result when West Indies beat Australia by 10 runs at the Brabourne Stadium, defending 234 with Jerome Taylor and Dwayne Bravo taking three wickets each. Australia recovered to beat England and India and topped the group anyway. West Indies also beat India, chasing 224 with two balls left, and went through in second.
Group B was won by South Africa, who beat Sri Lanka by 78 and Pakistan by 124. New Zealand joined them after beating South Africa by 87 and Pakistan by 51. It meant that for the first time since the 1975 World Cup, no Asian side reached the last four of a major ICC event, in a tournament held in Asia.
Semi-finals and final
Australia beat New Zealand by 34 runs at Mohali, Glenn McGrath taking 3 for 22. West Indies chased 259 against South Africa at Jaipur, Chris Gayle making 133 not out, one of two hundreds he scored during a tournament in which he accumulated 474 runs, still the highest aggregate for a single edition.
The final at the Brabourne Stadium was interrupted by rain and reduced. West Indies, put in, were bowled out for 138 in 30.4 overs; Nathan Bracken took 3 for 22 and Shane Watson 2 for 22. Australia's target was revised to 116 from 35 overs and Watson finished it with 57 not out, winning by eight wickets with almost seven overs unused. He was named man of the match.
It was Australia's first Champions Trophy, at the fifth attempt, and came four months before they won a third consecutive World Cup. West Indies had beaten them in the group stage but never threatened in the final.