England seal ICC T20 World Cup 2022 final against Pakistan

Jos Buttler’s side held Pakistan to 137-8 in front of a partisan 80,462 fans at a heaving Melbourne Cricket Ground, with player-of-the-match Curran bagging 3-12 and Adil Rashid chipping with 2-22.

In reply, England slumped to 49-3 in the sixth over as they struggled to get any momentum against a fiery pace attack, with boundaries hard to come by.

But Stokes (52 not out) and Moeen Ali (19) used their experience and cool heads to guide England to 138-5 with six balls to spare, climaxing a riveting tournament that spanned 45 games over nearly a month.

The victory added to the 50-over title England won in 2019, building on the legacy of former captain Eoin Morgan, who retired this year after transforming the team into a white-ball juggernaut.

It was England’s second T20 crown after tasting success in 2010, joining the West Indies as the only two-time winners since the tournament’s inception in 2007.

The game was billed as a showdown between Pakistan’s attack and England’s top order, and Shaheen Afridi bowled danger man Alex Hales in the first over of the run chase.

But that only fired up Buttler who smashed two boundaries off Naseem Shah.

Phil Salt, playing in place of the injured Dawid Malan, didn’t last, making just 10 before pulling Haris Rauf to Iftikhar Ahmed

The ball was swinging and seaming and the menacing Rauf claimed the key wicket of Buttler just as he was getting in, edging to wicket keeper Mohammad Rizwan on 26 off 17 balls.

The runs dried up and Harry Brook needed treatment for a blow to his elbow, but he soldiered on as they reached 77-3 at the halfway point of the innings, compared to Pakistan’s 68-2.

Brook came undone on 20 against the spin of Shadab Khan, holing out to Afridi as he tried to get the scoreboard moving.

It came down to needing 41 runs off the final five overs.

Stokes relieved the pressure with a four and a six off Ahmed and there was no stopping them with the England all-rounder hitting the winning runs.

Rashid strikes

With forecast rain staying away, England produced disciplined and economical bowling to stymie 2009 champions Pakistan, with Shan Masood’s 38 the top score.

Stokes was given the new ball after England won the toss and chose to field with Pakistan lucky to survive the over intact as opener Rizwan was almost run outgoing for a risky single.

Rizwan and Babar Azam shared a century partnership in their semi-final against New Zealand, but another big stand wasn’t to be, with Rizwan dragging a delivery from Curran on to his stumps on 15.

The introduction of Rashid soon after the six-over powerplay reaped an immediate reward with Mohammad Haris (8) attacking him on his first ball only to sky a simple catch to Stokes.

Masood began swinging the bat in the second half of the innings, hitting a four and six off Liam Livingstone.

But once again Rashid got the breakthrough, pulling off a diving catch from his own bowling to claim the vital wicket of Azam, whose 32 came off 28 balls.

Ahmed only lasted six balls before Masood and Shadab Khan (20) fell in the space of two runs as Curran and Chris Jordan kept the lid on any hope Pakistan had of a late flurry.

Melbourne weather forecast

As per the meteorology department, the weather forecast for Sunday doesn’t look promising and rain is likely to interrupt the proceedings.

“Cloudy. Very high (near 100%) chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm, possibly severe. Winds east to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h turning northerly 25 to 35 km/h during the morning then decreasing to 15 to 20 km/h in the evening,” read an update on the official website of the meteorology department.

In case the match fails to take place today, the action then moves to a reserve day, which is on Monday. However, the forecast for the reserve day also remains dull.

Cricket greats share their thoughts and predictions

Ahead of the big match, a few legends of the game have placed their prediction for the match and it seems one team has emerged as the outright favorite among them.

AB de Villiers

“My personal opinion, man to man, England must surely take the Cup home! BUT, the beauty of Sport tells us it’s just not that simple! Gonna come down to who wants it most, along with the rhythm and beauty of the game. Who knows?!” tweeted AB de Villiers.

 

 

Shoaib Akhtar

He posted a video message on Twitter boosting the confidence of the team by saying, “Bring glory home, guys. You can do it.”