An unbeaten half-century from Ben Stokes and brilliant performances with the ball from Sam Curran and Adil Rashid helped England to a second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title with an impressive five-wicket victory over Pakistan in Melbourne.
Stokes used all his experience to score 52 from 49 balls just when his team needed it most as England chased down Pakistan’s meager total of 137/8 with six deliveries remaining at the MCG.
Unsung heroes shine with the ball for England
Seamer Sam Curran (3/12) and Adil Rashid (2/22) were near unplayable for much of Pakistan’s innings, with the duo picking up five valuable wickets between them and conceding just one boundary.
Rashid picked up the massive wicket of Babar Azam for 32 just as it looked like the skipper was about to accelerate and Pakistan’s batting innings never reached great heights from that point on.
Shan Masood (38) and Shadab Khan (20) contributed some handy late runs, but their total of 137/8 was never going to be enough with England’s strong batting line-up.
Afridi injury turns match England’s way
While England were marginally ahead when requiring 41 from the final five overs, the game turned even more their way when Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi was forced to limp off after the first delivery of his third over.
Afridi had given Pakistan some life when he produced a superb Yorker to send the dangerous Alex Hales packing for one and fellow quicks Hairs Rauf (2/23) and Naseem Shah (0/30) were working off his energy and bowling with great pace.
Afridi was brought back for his second spell and it could have been pivotal with Stokes and Moeen Ali (19) needing to score at more than eight runs per over to clinch victory.
But Afridi was still feeling the effects of landing awkwardly following a catch earlier in England ‘innings and limped from the field, leaving Iftikhar Ahmed to bowl the reminder of his over.
Stokes takes advantage of unfortunate situation
The experienced left-hander seized on Afridi’s injury quickly as he smashed a four and a six off Iftikhar’s final two deliveries to put England firmly in the driver’s seat. It quickly turned from a tough situation to an easy one, with Moeen joining in on the act with consecutive boundaries off Mohammad Wasim to put the victory target within sight.
And while Moeen lost his wicket late, Stokes was there at the end with the match- winning half-century ensuring England claimed a thrilling five-wicket victory and a second T20 World Cup title.
England’s Sam Curran named ICC Player of the Tournament
England’s Sam Curran was named the ICC Player of the Tournament after his superb returns throughout the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. Curran’s Player of the Final performance against Pakistan capped a superb World Cup for the 24-year-old left-warmer, earning him the ICC’s Player of the Tournament award.
Having missed the 2021 edition through injury, Curran stepped up to play a big part in England’s run to the trophy, emerging as a key bowler in the death overs and a useful wicket-taker for Jos Bottler’s side.
Curran finished the World Cup with 13 wickets to his name, second only to Wanindu Maasranga of Sri Lanka.
Babar defends Pakistan’s batting tactics and middle order
Captain Babar Azam has defended Pakistan’s approach with the bat following their loss to England in the final.
“I’m very sad. I think we were 20 runs short and we couldn’t defend because of that,” the Pakistan captain said in his media conference after the game.
“We are very proud to play for Pakistan. It is very sad when you can’t finish it. But I’m disappointed. “We were in a different situation. We were trying to build partnerships but we couldn’t. Whenever a wicket falls, the batter goes and he takes two-three balls to settle down. We came on the back foot as a batting unit.
“As a team, we win. As a team, we lose. The way we started, we couldn’t finish well. On the 11th over, it was 80-85. I think we should have finished at 150. I think we made some mistakes.”
But Babar says the Pakistan hierarchy will now turn their attention towards the upcoming Test Series against England and New Zealand before making any personnel decisions in the shorter form of the game.
“It’s too early to decide,” he said. “We’ll play Tests next and when T20Is come around again we’ll decide.
