In the grand finale of ICC T20 World Cup 2022, England beat Pakistan by five wickets to win the T20 World Cup title at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
Opting to field, England dished out a clinical bowling performance to restrict Pakistan to a below-par 137 for 8 before chasing down the target with six balls to spare.
Pakistan never had any momentum in their innings. Babar Azam (32), Mohammad Rizwan (15), Shan Masood (38) and Shadab Khan (20) were the only ones who reached double figures.
Sam Curran (3/12) did most of the damage with three wickets, while Adil Rashid (2/22) and Chris Jordan (2/27) snapped two each. In reply, England were 45 for three in the sixth over but Ben Stokes (52 not out) produced a gritty fifty to take his team home.
Jos Buttler (26), Harry Brook (20) and Moeen Ali (19) were the other contributors.
Brief Scores: Pakistan: 137 for 8 in 20 overs (Shan Masood 38; Sam Curran 3/12).
England: 138 for 5 wickets in 19 overs (Ben Stokes 52 not out; Haris Rauf 2/23).
PAK vs ENG Playing XI
Pakistan Playing XI: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf
England Playing XI: Jos Buttler (c&wk), Alex Hales, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid.
Sam Curran adjudged Player of the match and Player of the tournament as well.
In the final, he conceded only 12 runs and took 3 wickets against the Pakistani line-up.
He took 13 wickets in 6 matches in T20 World Cup.
England 138-5 after 19 overs; Liam Livingstone 1(1); Ben Stokes 52(49)
Wasim comes into the attack...
Ball 6: Stokes smashes towards mid-wicket and once again Stokes hits the winning run for England, THE NEW WORLD CHAMPION.
Ball 5: A big swing and a miss from Stokes outside off.
Ball 4: Stokes times the juicy full toss towards extra cover boundary for FOUR. With this, Ben Stokes brings up his first fifty in T20 International cricket. WHAT A TIME TO BRING THE MAIDEN FIFTY.
Ball 3: Liam Livingstone arrives at the crease and hits the low full toss towards long-on for a single.
Ball 2: Moeen Ali chops the full delivery onto the stumps, BOWLED.
Ball 1: Stokes collects a single.
England 131-4 after 18 overs; Moeen Ali 19(12); Ben Stokes 46(45)
Haris Rauf is back into the attack
Ball 6: Stokes keep the strike with a single. Equation: England need 7 runs in 12 balls
Ball 5: Rauf follows with a bumper, Stokes sways away from the line of delivery.
Ball 4: Stokes defend the pacy back of length delivery.
Ball 3: Stokes cuts towards wide of third man fielder and collects two runs.
Ball 2: Moeen Ali hits the low full toss towards mid-off for a single.
Ball 1: Stokes collects a single.
Mohammad Wasim Jr [2.0-0-15-0] is back into the attack and Moeen Ali takes him from cleaners, smashing three fours in the over.
Moeen Ali18(11); Ben Stokes42(40)
England 110-4 after 16 overs; Moeen Ali 5(7); Ben Stokes 39(38)
Shaheen Afridi is back into the attack and gets off the field after bowling just one ball. Big moment for Pakistan at a crucial moment.
Iftikhar completes the over and Stokes takes the game away from Pakistan with a FOUR and a SIX to end the over.
England 97-4 after 15 overs; Moeen Ali 3(4); Ben Stokes 28(35)
Haris Rauf is back into the attack...
Ball 6: Stokes stays at the crease and hits the last ball through mid-off for FOUR.
Ball 5: Another big swing and a miss from Stokes. DOT
Ball 4: Moeen Ali pushes towards long-on for a single.
Ball 3: Stokes cuts towards backward point and the ball falls short of Masood, saves a certain boundary as a single has been taken.
Ball 2: Stokes collects a couple of runs towards deep extra cover.
Ball 1: A big swing and a miss from Stokes.
England 89-4 after 14 overs; Moeen Ali 2(3); Ben Stokes 21(30)
Naseem Shah continues and Moeen Ali hits the first ball straight to mid-on. Stokes tries to take a single but Moeen Ali declines, he slips while turning and a direct hit from Rauf could have sent Stokes back to pavillion.
Naseem concedes only two singles in the over.
England 87-4 after 13 overs; Moeen Ali 1(1); Ben Stokes 20(26)
Shadab Khan continues...
Ball 6: A couple of runs towards deep extra cover.
Ball 5: DOT
Ball 4: Moeen Ali collects a single towards point.
Ball 3: Brook tries to break the shackles but holed out to long-off.
Ball 2: DOT
Ball 1: Brook collects a couple of runs towards long-on.
England 79-3 after 11 overs; Harry Brook 15(17); Ben Stokes 18(21)
Naseem Shah is back into the attack and concedes only a triple in the over.
England 79-3 after 11 overs; Harry Brook 15(17); Ben Stokes 18(21)
Shadab Khan continues and concedes two runs.
England 77-3 after 10 overs; Harry Brook 14(16); Ben Stokes 17(16)
Wasim continues...
Ball 6: Brook hits without much-timing towards mid-wicket, DOT. Shadab Khan misses a potential run-out chance.
Ball 5: Stokes collects a single.
Ball 4: A low full toss and Stokes times is superbly towards deep extra cover for FOUR.
Ball 3: Brook collects a single towards mid-wicket.
Ball 2: Stokes nudges towards mid-wicket and collects a single thanks to a miss-field from Iftikhar.
Ball 1: Brook collects a single.
England 69-3 after 9 overs; Harry Brook 12(13); Ben Stokes 11(13)
Shadab Khan continues...
Ball 6: A single for Brook.
Ball 5: DOT
Ball 4: Stokes collects a single towards deep mid-wicket.
Ball 3: Stokes tries to play reverse sweep but manages only under edge to fine leg boundary for FOUR.
Ball 2: Brook comes down the wicket and hits towards long-on for a single.
Ball 1: Stokes punches towards sweeper cover for a single.
England 61-3 after 8 overs; Harry Brook 10(10); Ben Stokes 5(10)
Wasim is introduced into the attack...
Ball 6: DOT
Ball 5: Brook moves wide of leg stump, Wasim follows him but the batter fails to put bat on ball.
Ball 4: Brook hits wide of long-on fielder for a couple of runs.
Ball 3: Stokes gets an inside edge to short fine leg pocket for a single.
Ball 3: A short and wide delivery outside off, WIDE CALLED ONCE AGAIN.
Ball 3: Wasim sprays down the leg side, WIDE CALLED.
Ball 2: Brook collects a single towards sweeper cover.
Ball 1: Stokes shimmers down the wicket and hits the back of length delivery towards sweeper cover for a single.
England 54-3 after 7 overs; Harry Brook 7(6); Ben Stokes 3(8)
Shadab Khan is introduced into the attack and concedes five runs in his first over.
England 49-3 after 6 overs; Harry Brook 4(3); Ben Stokes 1(5)
Haris Rauf continues....
Ball 6: Brook dabs the last ball towards backward point for no run.
Ball 5: Brooksshimmers down the wicket and times the ball a tad wide of mid-on for FOUR.
Ball 4: Harry Brook arrives at the crease and defends the first ball he faced. DOT
Ball 3: Pakistan bowlers are peppering outside off against Buttler and finally Rauf produces an edge, GONE. The big fish is back to the pavillion.
Ball 3: Rauf bowls a short pitch delivery, Buttler ducks under it, WIDE CALLED.
Ball 2: Stokes punches wide of mid-off fielder for a single.
Ball 1: Stokes defends the first ball on the stumps.
England 43-2 after 5 overs; Jos Buttler 26(16); Ben Stokes 0(3)
Naseem Shah is introduced into the attack...
Ball 6: A superb over comes to an end as he beats Buttler for the 5th time in the over.
Ball 5: Buttler gets beaten outside off again.
Ball 4: Buttler scoops the ball on the stumps over keeper for a SIX.
Ball 3: Naseem beats Buttler once again outside off, DOT.
Ball 2: Buttler edges the ball on off stump but it falls in front of wicket-keeper, DOT.
Ball 1: Naseem Shah sprays outside leg stumps, ball flies to fine leg boundary for FIVE WIDES as Rizwan fails to collect the ball.
Ball 1: Naseem Shah beats Buttler outside off with a peach of delivery. DOT.
After taking Phil Salt out of the game on his 2nd delivery, Haris Rauf bowled an aggressive over to end his first over of the night, conceding just 4 runs from it.
Haris Rauf came in to bowl his first over of the night and took Phil Salt out of the game on just 10 runs in the 4th over.
England 32/2 after 3.3 overs
Afridi came back to bowl his 2nd over of the night.
Buttler scored another boundary on the third delivery after Phil Salt survived a close LBW scare on the 2nd ball.
Shaheen ended his over, conceding 7 runs from it.
Naseem Shah came in to bowl his first over of the night.
The pacer got hit for back-to-back FOURS in the 2nd & 3rd delivery of the over by skipper Buttler.
Naseem ended his expensive first over, conceding 14 runs from it.
Pakistan spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi was given the new ball to start the 2nd innings and started with a bang by dismissing England opener Alex Hales on just 1 run on the final delivery of the over.
England 7-1 after 1 over
Pakistan 137-8 after 20 overs; Haris Rauf 1(1); Shaheen Afridi 5(3)
Chris Jordan is back into the attack...
Ball 6: Shaheen runs a BYE to end Pakistani innings.
Ball 5: Shaheen goes for a big hit but manages a top edge over keeper for FOUR.
Ball 4: haris Rauf arrives at the crease and hits towards deep backward square leg for a single.
Ball 3: Wasim goes for a biggie but fails to get any distance, Livingstone takes yet another catch.
Ball 2: Another swing and a miss from Wasim. DOT
Ball 1: A big swing and a miss from Wasim, DOT.
Pakistan 131-7 after 19 overs; Mohd Wasim Jr. 4(5); Shaheen Afridi 1(1)
Chris Jordan is back into the attack...
Ball 6: Wasim collects a single.
Ball 5: A short delivery, Wasim tries to pull it but misses a hoick completely.
Ball 4: Shaheen Afridi arrives at the crease and smashes towards deep mid-wicket for only a single.
Ball 3: Nawaz whips the full delivery on the pads straight to deep mid-wicket. Nawaz is back to pavillion, DONE.
Ball 2: Nawaz collects a couple of runs towards deep backward square leg.
Ball 1: DOT
Pakistan 127-6 after 18 overs; Mohd Wasim Jr. 3(3); Mohd Nawaz 3(4)
Chris Jordan is back into the attack...
Ball 6: DOT
Ball 5: Nawaz collects a single towards extra cover.
Ball 4: Wasim cuts straight to backward point but Brooks drops a SITTER. Three runs taken thanks to overthrows.
Ball 3: Mohd Wasim Jr. arrives at the crease and fails to score off the first ball he faced.
Ball 2: Shadab goes for a biggie but manages to hit from the upper half of the bat, Woakes completes the catch at mid-off. GONE. Shadab departs for 14-ball 20.
Ball 1: Nawaz collects a single.
Pakistan 122-5 after 17 overs; Shadab Khan 20(13); Mohd Nawaz 1(2)
Curran continues...
Ball 6: Shadab tries to ramp the short delivery but misses it completely.
Ball 5: Nawaz pulls towards deep square leg for a single.
Ball 4: Mohd Nawaz arrives at the crease and pushes towards mid-off for NO RUN.
Ball 3: Masood rocks on backfoot and goes for a biggie but holed out to deep mid-wicket, GONE. Masood departs after scoring 38 runs off 28 balls.
Ball 2: Masood makes some room and goes for a big but misses the ball completely.
Ball 1: Masood miss-hits towards deep square leg for a couple of runs.
Pakistan 119-4 after 16 overs; Shadab Khan 20(12); Shan Masood 36(25)
Ben Stokes returns into the attack.
Ball 6: Masood collects a single.
Ball 5: Shadab Khan smashes towards deep square leg for three runs.
Ball 4: Masood collects a single towards sweeper cover.
Ball 3: Shadab collects a single.
Ball 2: Shadab Khan hammers towards extra cover and collects a boundary as Brooks makes a sloppy fielding effort.
Ball 2: WIDE
Ball 1: Shadab Khan collects a couple of runs.
Pakistan 106-4 after 15 overs; Shadab Khan 10(8); Shan Masood 34(23)
Chris Jordan is back into the attack...
Ball 6: Shadab Khan hits towards deep backward square leg for a single.
Ball 5: A single for Masood.
Ball 4: Masood hammers through extra cover for FOUR.
Ball 3: Shadab Khan gets a leading edge to third man for a single.
Ball 2: Masood collects a single.
Ball 1: DOT
Pakistan 98-4 after 14 overs; Shadab Khan 8(6); Shan Masood 28(19)
Adil Rashid ends his spell with the figure of 4-1-22-2
Ball 6: DOT
Ball 5: A single for Masood.
Ball 4: Shadab pushes towards extra cover for a single.
Ball 3: Shadab Khan plays a short-arm jab down the ground for FOUR.
Ball 2: Masood collects a single.
Ball 1: Shadab Khan collects a single.
Pakistan 90-3 after 13 overs; Shadab Khan 2(2); Shan Masood 26(17)
Ben Stokes returns into the attack....
Ball 6: Shadab dabs towards off-side for a quick single.
Ball 5: Masood guides through wicket-keeper for a single.
Ball 4: Masood collects a couple of runs.
Ball 3: Shadab Khan arrives at a crease and collects a single off the first ball he faced.
Ball 2: Stokes produces a peach of a delivery and finds the edge of Iftikhar's bat, who gets dismissed at 5-ball duck.
Ball 1: On leg bye for Pakistan
Pakistan 84-3 after 12 overs; Iftikhar Ahmed 0(5); Shan Masood 23(14)
Adil Rashid continues and gets the wicket of Babar Azam.
Iftikhar Ahmed arrives at the crease and fails to score off the remaining five deliveries.
Pakistan 84-2 after 11 overs; Babar Azam 32(27); Shan Masood 23(14)
Liam Livingstone, right-arm leg break, comes into the attack
Ball 6: Masood chips over backward point for a couple of runs.
Ball 5: Masood wallops over long-on for a SIX.
Ball 5: WIDE
Ball 4: Masood hammers down the ground for FOUR.
Ball 3: DOT
Ball 2: Babar Azam collects a single.
Ball 1: Babar Azam whips towards deep mid-wicket for a couple of runs.
Pakistan 68-2 after 10 overs; Babar Azam 29(25); Shan Masood 11(10)
Adil Rashid continues and concedes 9 runs in the over.
DRINKS BREAK
Pakistan 59-2 after 9 overs; Babar Azam 27(23); Shan Masood 5(6)
Chris Jordan is introduced into the attack...
Ball 6: DOT
Ball 5: Masood hits towards cover region and collects a single.
Ball 4: Masood collects a couple of runs.
Ball 3: Babar Azam collects a single towards third man.
Ball 2: Babar Azam clips towards long leg for FOUR.
Ball 1: Masood cuts towards third man for a single.
Pakistan 50-2 after 8 overs; Babar Azam 22(20); Shan Masood 1(3)
Adil Rashid is introduced into the attack...
Ball 6: Another couple of runs for Babar.
Ball 5: Babar collects a couple of runs.
Ball 4: Masood collects a single towards deep square leg.
Ball 3: DOT
Ball 2: DOT
Ball 1: Haris goes for a big hit but fails to get a desired distance. GONE.
Pakistan 45-1 after 7 overs; Babar Azam 18(18); Mohd Haris 8(11)
Ben Stokes returns into the attack after powerplay
Ball 6: Haris collects a single towards deep fine leg.
Ball 5: Haris smashes down the ground for a couple of runs.
Ball 4: DOT
Ball 3: Another short delivery, Babar pulls it again to deep square leg for a single.
Ball 2: A single for Haris.
Ball 1: Babar Azam pulls the short delivery towards square leg for a single.
Pakistan 39-1 after 6 overs; Babar Azam 16(16); Mohd Haris 4(7)
Curran continues....
Ball 6: Haris ramps the ball on the stumps over short fine leg for FOUR.
Ball 6: WIDE
Ball 5: DOT
Ball 4: DOT
Ball 3: Babar collects a single.
Ball 2: Babar whips the ball on the pads towards mid-wicket for FOUR.
Ball 1: DOT
Pakistan 29-1 after 5 overs; Babar Azam 11(13); Mohd Haris 0(4)
Curran continues....
Ball 6: A back-of-length delivery, Haris tries to guide it over keeper, misses it completely. DOT.
Ball 5: Haris advances down the wicket and goes for a big hit but fails to get any connection, DOT.
Ball 4: Haris taps towards short third man for no run.
Ball 3: Mohd Haris arrives at the create and shows the intent right away but fails to get any run.
Ball 2: Curran bowls outside off, Rizwan chops it onto the stumps, BOWLED.
Ball 1: Babar Azam collects a single.
mps, BOWLED.
Pakistan 28-0 after 4 overs; Babar Azam 10(12); Mohammad Rizwan 15(13)
Chris Woakes continues....
Ball 6: Babar Azam chips over mid-on for a couple of runs.
Ball 5: Rizwan collects a single towards cover.
Ball 4: DOT
Ball 3: Babar Azam collects a single.
Ball 2: Rizwan collects a singke
Ball 1: Rizwan picks the slow delivery and sweeps it towards long leg for a SIX.
Pakistan 16-0 after 3 overs; Babar Azam 6(10); Mohammad Rizwan 7(9)
Sam Curran comes in as a first change bowler...
Ball 6: DOT
Ball 5: DOT
Ball 4: A single for Rizwan.
Ball 3: Rizwan collects a couple of runs towards backward square leg.
Ball 2: Babar Azam collects a single.
Ball 1: DOT
Pakistan 12-0 after 2 overs; Babar Azam 5(6); Mohammad Rizwan 4(7)
Chris Woakes shares the new ball with Stokes.....
Ball 6: DOT
Ball 5: Babar flicks wide of mid-on fielder for a single.
Ball 4: Rizwan glances towards deep fine leg for a single.
Ball 3: Babar flicks towards deep square leg for a single.
Ball 2: Babar defends the ball on the off side for NO RUN.
Ball 1: Babar drives, handsomely, towards extra cover but staright to fielder, DOT.
Ball 1: Woakes starts with a WIDE down the leg side.
Pakistan 8-0 after 1 over; Babar Azam 3(2); Mohammad Rizwan 3(5)
Ball 6: Babar carves through the backward point for three runs.
Ball 5: Babar taps towards the cover point for NO RUN.
Ball 4: Rizwan drives towards mid-off and takes a quick single. A direct hit would have sent him back to pavillion.
Ball 3: DOT
Ball 2: Stokes strays on the pads again, Rizwan miss-hits towards deep fine leg for a couple of runs.
Ball 1: FREE HIT | Stokes generates a bounce as Rizwan fails to get any connection. DOT
Ball 1: FREE HIT | Stokes sprays on the leg side WIDE CALLED, another free hit.
Ball 1: Ben Stokes starts with a freebie as he bowls a NO BALL.
Here's what Ian Bishop said about Melbourne's pitch:
There are some nice dry grass areas on the surface. But there are green patches as well. It's very very hard. Want to use the short ball. It swung more in the poweplay here than in any other ground. The kind of bowlers we have today - Shaheen, Stokes, Woakes - stick to your strength
PAK vs ENG T20I Head to Head
Out of the 27 matches played between the two sides, England have won 18 matches while Pakistan came victorious on 9 occasions.
Recently, in the seven-match T20Is series, The Three Lions edged out the Men In Green 4-3..
Pakistan (Playing XI): Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
England (Playing XI): Jos Buttler(w/c), Alex Hales, Philip Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid.
England captain Jos Buttler wins the toss and elects to bowl first at MCG.
The live coin flip between Babar Azam and Jos Buttler is moments away, stay tuned for live updates.
The rain is still away from the Melbourne Cricket Ground. According to media reports, the clouds are hovering over MCG but it is windy and if the locals have to believe the wind will blow away the clouds.
The live toss between Pakistan and England has been preponed by 8 minutes. Now, coin clip between Babar Azam and Jos Buttler will take place at 12:52 PM IST.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam is "more excited than nervous" as he stands on the cusp of emulating the iconic Imran Khan.
Pakistan take on England in the summit clash of the T20 World Cup at the MCG on Sunday.
"I'm more excited than nervous since we've performed well in our last three matches," Babar said on Saturday.
"It is no doubt that pressure exists but it can only be suppressed with confidence and belief in ourselves. And for good results, it is pertinent that one must do so," the skipper said.
He didn't hesitate in admitting that the pace quartet of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammed Wasim Jr and Haris Rauf are his side's strength.
"England is a competitive team, their win to reach the finals against India was a proof of that. Our strategy is to stick to our plan and using our pace attack as our strength to win the final," he said.
According to the Australia weather department's radar, the rain clouds have not reached Melbourne yet. However, there is a thunderstorm prediction at 7 PM local time, when the match is about to start.
After a relatively dry morning, the clouds are hovering around Melbourne Cricket Ground. However, it is still not raining yet. However, the weather forecast says differently.
Hourly Melbourne Weather forecast (Photo: screengrab from Accuweather.com)
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of ICC T20 World Cup 2022 final between Pakistan and England.
Though the rain is likely to play spoilsport story, the wet weather conditions in Melbourne have not settled in yet, So game on guys. Stay tuned with us for all the live updates related to PAK vs ENG final.