A tournament moved twice
The sixth Champions Trophy was meant to be played in Pakistan in September 2008. Several boards declined to travel on security grounds, the ICC postponed it in August of that year, and in March 2009 the tournament was reassigned to South Africa for the following September. The Pakistan Cricket Board lost the hosting rights it had held since 2006 and would not regain them until 2025.
The format changed with the venue. Instead of twelve teams in pools of three, the ICC settled on eight teams in two groups of four, the top two from each going through. That structure guaranteed every side three matches and has been used for every edition since. Only two grounds were used, both in Gauteng: the Wanderers in Johannesburg and SuperSport Park in Centurion, roughly fifty kilometres apart.
The groups
Group A was a scramble. Pakistan opened by bowling West Indies out for 133 and then beat India by 54 runs, Shoaib Malik making 128. Australia beat West Indies by 50, had their match against India abandoned with the total on 234 for 4, and then held off Pakistan by two wickets in the last over of a low-scoring game. India beat West Indies but had already been eliminated. Australia and Pakistan advanced.
Group B was decided by run-rate and results between the top three. Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 55 runs on Duckworth-Lewis in the opening match, Tillakaratne Dilshan making 106. England beat Sri Lanka, then beat South Africa by 22 runs after Owais Shah's 98 helped them to 323. New Zealand beat South Africa and Sri Lanka and then England, who had already qualified. The hosts lost their last two group matches and were out; England and New Zealand went through.
Watson's tournament
The semi-finals were both comfortable. Australia chased 258 against England at Centurion with more than eight overs to spare, Shane Watson making 136 not out and Ricky Ponting 111 not out in an unbroken stand of 252. New Zealand chased 234 against Pakistan at the Wanderers, Daniel Vettori taking 4 for 42 and then adding 87 with Grant Elliott.
In the final New Zealand batted first at SuperSport Park and made 200 for 9, Martin Guptill top-scoring with 40 and Nathan Hauritz taking 3 for 37. Watson opened and made 105 not out from 129 balls; Australia won by six wickets with 28 balls remaining. Watson was man of the match for the second time in three days.
Australia became the first side to win the Champions Trophy twice and remain the only one to have won it in successive editions. Ponting, who had made 288 runs, was named player of the tournament. New Zealand had now lost an ICC final having also lost the 2007 World Twenty20 semi-final and the 2007 World Cup semi-final; the pattern would continue.