Babar Azam-led Pakistani side fell short in their goal to become two-time T20 World champs as they were defeated by England by 5 wickets in the T20 World Cup 2022 final at the MCG on Sunday, November 13, 2022.
Jos Buttler had won the toss and chose to field first. Pakistan tried their best to counter the England bowlers on a difficult pitch to bat on and posted 137/8 in 20 overs. Shan Masood (38), Babar Azam (32), and Shadab Khan (20) managed significant scores.
For England, Sam Curran with 3/12 and Adil Rashid with 2/22 was the pick of the bowlers.
If there was a bowling attack that could have defended this total then it was the Pakistan team and they started off well as Shaheen Afridi removed Alex Hales for 1, and then Haris Rauf accounted for dangerous Phil Salt for 10.
But then Jos Buttler (26) and Ben Stokes consolidated the innings and despite Rauf removing Buttler, Stokes continued to keep England in the game.
The turning point of the game came when Shaheen Afridi walked off the field with an injury to his knee after bowling one ball in the 16th over and Stokes hit Iftikhar Ahmed for a six and a four to open the floodgates.
In the end, Ben Stokes remained 52* with 1 six and 5 fours and with Moeen Ali (19) taking the England team past the finishing line with 5 wickets in hand and one over to spare.
Sam Curran was given the Player of the Final award for his 3/12 in 4 overs and Player of the Tournament as well for his 13 wickets.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani cricket fraternity consoled the heartbroken Men in Green team in Twitter for their brilliant performance.
Here are the tweets:
