Syed Ahmad reports on how the England National Cricket team became the first-ever men’s team in history to hold both the 50-over and 20-over iterations of the World Cup title, following their victory over Pakistan in the Melbourne final.
The initial Pakistani innings saw the side fail to impress, scoring just 137 runs for 8 wickets. A strong Pakistani bowling performance saw the game remain contentious. However, with 41 required by England off just 29 balls, key fast-bowler Shaheen Afridi pulled up in his third over with an injury.
Subsequently, batsman, Ben Stokes led England to a cruising victory, with 26 runs coming off just 8 balls, leading to a comfortable win with 5 wickets in hand and 6 balls remaining. This 2nd English title in the T20 format followed a trend often seen in previous T20 finals; only 1 in 6 of the previous finals saw the side batting first achieve victory.
Pakistan had a tumultuous path to the final, starting with two consecutive defeats that saw their qualification chances plummet. The first, a heated clash with archrivals India (a fixture perennially seen as a must-win by both sides) saw the latter achieve a narrow win by 4 runs. This had perhaps a demoralizing effect on the side, as the following fixture saw a surprise loss to the Zimbabwean team, who ultimately ended last in their group during the Super 12 stage.
A return to form with three consecutive wins saw their marginal chances of qualification to the semi-final rest entirely on Netherlands achieving a win against heavy favourites South Africa. They did this emphatically much to the jubilation of Pakistani fans. The semi-final against New Zealand saw Pakistan put on a strong batting display, with Mohammad Rizwan and Captain Babar Azam showing great composure and each scoring half-centuries to lead them to the final.
England similarly faced a shocking upset in the group stage, with the side unable to achieve a DLS adjusted target of 111 runs set by the Irish national cricket team. The following three-match run, however, saw the English achieve three strong displays, culminating in a near flawless victory over India, with the openers Alex Hales and Captain Jos Buttler achieving the Indian-set target of 168 in just 16 overs. Each had a terrific innings, scoring 86 and 80 runs respectively.
If their performances in this tournament are any indication, England may prove to defend their ODI World Cup title in the upcoming 2023 edition of the competition. Having shown themselves to be a side capable of effective and calculated play against any team and indeed in any format; they will certainly be the team to beat. In the meantime, the two finalists will be meeting again soon, with Pakistan hosting England for a series of test matches this December.
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