MELBOURNE: England defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets in the T20 World Cup final in Melbourne Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
England chased down the target of 138 runs in the second last over with the five wickets in hand.
Earlier, England won the toss and elected to bowl first. Babar-led squad could only manage to score meager 137 runs by losing eight wickets, around 30 scores short of prediction. Green shirts made 29 runs at the loss of one wicket in the first five overs.
A Ben Stokes special at the MCG! 😍
England take a special title home 🏆#PAKvENG | #T20WorldCupFinal | 📝 https://t.co/HdpneOrKoo pic.twitter.com/BOIrCSwlyn
— ICC (@ICC) November 13, 2022
Batters earlier struggled to make a foundation for a big score against in-form England as they scored 100 in the 15th over.
Flamboyant player Rizwan was first dismissed on a mere 15. Inside edges a fuller in-swinging delivery, Sam Curran draws the blood for England. Later skipper Babar Azam, and young blood Haris take Green Shirts to 39/1 in power-play.
Mohammad Haris was then dismissed as Adil Rashid strikes with his maiden ball. Haris attempted to charge down the track but was taken by Ben Stokes at long-on.
Congratulations @ECB_cricket. You are worthy champions.
Enjoy and celebrate this moment, and we look forward to hosting you in December for the three-Test series.#T20WorldCup | #PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/XYRzJgb7Wv
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 13, 2022
Skipper Babar Azam was then dismissed with 32 off 28 and middle order Shan Masood and Iftikhar attempted to gain momentum.
Later, Iftikhar was out for zero while Shan Masood made 32 runs off 28.
In reply, England achieved the target in the second last over of the match. Ben Stokes made half-century which led his side to the victory.
Pakistan’s Haris Rauf picked up two wickets. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Wasim Jnr grabbed one wicket each.
Final Squads
Pakistan: Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan, 3 Mohammad Haris, 4 Shan Masood, 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Mohammad Nawaz, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Mohammad Wasim, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi.
England: 1 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Phil Salt, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Chris Jordan, 11 Adil Rashid.
