14 November,2022 07:26 AM IST | Melbourne | R Kaushik
England players celebrate after winning the T20 World Cup title at Melbourne yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
Ben Stokes is nothing if not a showman. He also has a wonderful sense of occasion, as he proved for a second successive World Cup final.
The left-hander chose the most opportune time to come up with his first T20I half-century, an unbeaten 52 that reprised his heroics of the 50-over World Cup final in 2019. Riding on their talisman's heroics, England became the first team to hold both white-ball World Cup crowns simultaneously, getting the better of Pakistan by five wickets in an excellent, low-scoring final of the T20 World Cup on Sunday night.
The weather gods were kind enough to allow the final to proceed at the MCG uninterrupted, and the 80,000-plus fans were treated to an exhilarating contest dominated by the bowlers. Player of the Match and Tournament Sam Curran's three for 12 and leggie Adil Rashid's two for 22 kept Pakistan down to 137 for eight after Jos Buttler won the toss, and even though that tally looked grossly inadequate, Pakistan defended it tigerishly before throwing in the towel with one over to spare.
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Pakistan's innings never found any momentum and at no stage did they threaten a competitive total, but their exceptional pace attack didn't give England any leeway. Alex Hales, one half of the opening combine that pulverised India in the semi-final on Thursday, was cleaned up by Shaheen Shah Afridi in the first over, and when Haris Rauf accounted for Phil Salt and Buttler within the powerplay, England had a fight on their hands.
Fortunately for them, they had Stokes to turn to. His unbeaten 84 had pushed the 2019 final against New Zealand at Lord's to the Super Over and eventually to victory, but he had a different role to play this night with the inexperienced Harry Brook for company. Together, they steadied the ship with a stand of 39 when Brook was dismissed by the impressive Shadab Khan, but that success came at a huge cost for Pakistan.
In taking the catch at long-off, Afridi hurt his right knee badly and while he came back to gamely for a third over, he hobbled off after sending down just one delivery. England needed 41 off 29 at the stage and, thrown an unexpected lifeline, galloped home with Stokes and Moeen Ali associating themselves in a match-defining partnership of 48.
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Stokes was only 18 off 24 when Brook fell, but found an additional gear when most required. Cutting out the frills, he kept the target in his sights with a measured four here, a nurdled two there; it was in the fitness of things that he brought up the winning run with a shovel through mid-wicket off Mohammad Wasim.
England, victors in 2010 too, thus joined West Indies as the only two-time winners of the T20 World Cup as their cup of joy spilled over.
1
This is England's first T20I victory at Melbourne. They lost each of their four previous games at the MCG
Brief scores
Pakistan 137-8 in 20 overs (S Masood 38, B Azam 32; S Curran 3-12, A Rashid 2-22, C Jordan 2-27) lost to England 138-5 in 19 overs (B Stokes 52'; H Rauf 2-23) by 5 wkts
