England and Pakistan took the field at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to clash for the 20-20 World Cup 2022 title. The game, against expectations, was a low-scoring one but turned out to be a thriller. In the end, however, England held their nerves to win the game and lift their second World T20 championship by five wickets.
The Men in Red won the toss and went with the obvious choice to bowl first. Pakistan had a slow start batting first, and they lost one of their openers early on. Mohammad Rizwan was the first one to depart in the 5th over. The Men in Green scored 39 runs in the powerplay while losing only one wicket.
However, it all went downhill for them after that. The team was unable to get going and increase their scoring rate while continuing to lose wickets. On the other hand, the English bowlers were at the top of their game as they always kept the batters under pressure. In the end, Pakistan lost a lot of wickets and only managed to score 137/8 in their allotted 20 overs.
Shan Masood, with 38 runs in 28 balls, was the highest run-scorer of the innings, followed by Babar Azam (32 runs in 28 balls). For England, Sam Curran did most of the damage with the ball, picking three wickets and conceding just 12 runs. Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan also took two wickets, while Ben Stokes took one.
England also had a slow start in the chase, with Shaheen Afridi drawing the first blood in the first over itself. The bowlers continued to build pressure and scalp a few wickets. In no time, England was reduced to 84/412.3 overs. Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Philip Salt, and Harry Brook all failed in the chase.
Ben Stokes gets England back in the chase
However, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali joined forces to restore the balance of the match. Due to Afridi’s injury, Pakistan was forced to rely on Ifthikar Ahmed to bowl the final five balls of the 16th over. Stokes took complete advantage of that, scoring 13 runs in it. Ali followed it up with 16 runs in the next over. The equation was now down to 12 in 18 balls.
England lost Ali (19 runs in 13 balls), but that did not bother them much. Ben Stokes remained unbeaten on 52 runs in 49 balls and hit the winning runs to seal the game. With this, England are the new World 20-20 Champions.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to England’s win
Congratulations Team England For Winning T20WC 2022 ??#PAKvENG #T20WorldCupFinal pic.twitter.com/zKcdFdPtgJ
— Sardaar S (@SardaarSainik) November 13, 2022
#PAKvENG
Scam 1992 with Pakistan ???— Sumit Singh Shekhawat (@Kanji_lisadiya) November 13, 2022
Yeah ? Ben stokes f*cking pakistan.
Nothing may happen but one thing will always be there. #PKMKBForever #T20WorldCupFinal #PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/MvsbbJOgbQ— Captain Sukhveer Punia (@IMsukhveer45) November 13, 2022
#T20WorldCupFinal???
England wins the T20 World Cup! Beating Pakistan by 5 wickets. ?? Vs?? #PAKvENG #EngvsPak #WorldCup2022 #T20WorldCup— P?aresh Kumar??????? (@pareshChaya) November 13, 2022
??????? ENGLAND ARE T20 WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS ???????
What. A. Final.
Let the celebrations begin! ?#T20WorldCupFinal #T20WorldCup #BBCCricket #PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/2gRB5iQWVD
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) November 13, 2022
No worries guys Pakistan batted first in 1992. Nothing, just telling you. ?#PAKvENG
— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) November 13, 2022
??????? THEY'VE DONE IT ???????
England are World Champions!!!!
The first men's side to hold both 50 and 20 over titles at the same time. ??#BBCCricket #T20WorldCupFinal #PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/mZW9ppbTmZ
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) November 13, 2022
Great game @englandcricket. @benstokes38 man for big occasions. What a player! Congratulations England team! #PAKvENG
— Rakesh Kumar | ?????? ?????? ?? (@LinkwidRakesh) November 13, 2022
It may have been a bit more dramatic, if our talisman Shaheen had bowled those remaining overs. But a great fight by Team Green. Congratulations to @englandcricket #PAKvENG #PakVsEngFinal @T20WorldCup
— ????? ?????? (@FahadRehmanFSP) November 13, 2022
ENGLAND are the new T20 World Cup champions.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 13, 2022
