England are in top of the T20 world after claiming a five-wicket win over Pakistan in front of an 80,462-strong sea of dark green interspersed with some barmy flecks at the Melbourne Cricket Ground overnight to win the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Final.
Jos Buttler won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat first with all eyes on the clouds above as bad weather threatened to derail proceedings.
Pakistani openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam were fresh off a dominant outing against New Zealand in which they became the first pairing ever to combine for three separate 100-run stands in T20 World Cup history.
England had more success than New Zealand did, however, at wrangling in Pakistan’s superb opening partnership with Rizwan playing onto his stumps in just the fifth over against the bowling of Sam Curran.
Adil Rashid claimed the wicket of Mohammad Haris overs later leaving Babar and Shan Masood to stabilise the innings.
Babar looked in fine touch before chipping one straight back to Rashid in the 12th over which saw him trot back to the pavilion with 32 off 28.
Ben Stokes dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed for nought the following over before Masood and Shadab Khan managed a 36-run partnership of their own as Pakistan grinded their way towards a somewhat competitive total.
Masood was dismissed by Curran before Shadab was caught off the Chris Jordan leaving the Pakistani tail to attempt to inflate their total in the final overs.
Curran and Jordan each claimed another as Pakistan finished 8-for-137 off their 20 overs.
Masood was their leading scorer with 38 off 28 whilst Babar was the only other Pakistani to crack 30.
Curran finished an absurd 3-for-12 off his four overs whilst Rashid was 2-for-22 and Jordan was 2-for-27.
Chasing a target of 138, England were again banking on openers Buttler and Alex Hales to get them off on the front foot, however, Shaheen Shah Afridi had other ideas.
Shaheen knocked Hales’ stumps over in the first over prompting an almighty cheer from the Pakistan-favouring crowd.
Buttler ensured the run-rate remained steady, however, number-three Phil Salt also found himself meandering back to the pavilion after chipping one off the bowling of Haris Rauf to Iftikhar at midwicket.
Rauf claimed the wicket of Buttler just two overs later as Pakistan had their tails up and continued to attack.
Harry Brook joined Ben Stokes at the crease with England at 3-for-45 and added 20 runs of his own before knocking one to Shaheen down the ground off the bowling of Shadab.
Stokes continued chugging along as Moeen Ali added a quickfire 19 before being knocked over by Mohammad Wasim in the second-last over.
As so many anticipated, however, it was the Ben Stokes show with the England veteran once again proving the hero on the big stage.
Stokes finished with 52 off 49 and hit the match-winning run with six ball to spare as England claimed their second ICC Men’s T20 World Title.
Curran finished the tournament with 13 wickets – the second-highest mark – at an average of 11.38 earning Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament honours.
Celebrations are expected to continue long into the week for England as they once again find themselves atop the cricketing world.
