T20I WC: England beats Pakistan for 5 wickets; wins title
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Ben Stokes
Melbourne: With an unbeaten 52 off 49 led England to a five-wicket victory against Pakistan in the final match of ICC Men's T20I World Cup 2022 and ultimately winning the title here on Sunday.
The match turned out to be a redemption for all-rounder Stokes after he was hit for four successive sixes by West Indies' Carlos Brathwaite to win the title that year. Also, England became the first team to win both ODI and T20I WC trophies at the same time since they had won the 2019 ODI WC at home.
Pacer Sam Curren became the Player of the Match as well as Player of the Tournament.
Winning the toss, England decided to bowl first under overcast conditions. Sam Curren bowled for England with the best economy and took three wickets (3/12). Adil Rashid also exhibited impressive bowling (2/22) in the middle overs, which restricted Pakistan to 137/8. England met the target with an over to spare.
For Pakistan, skipper Babbar Asam and Shan Masood were the two who could make it till their thirties while others struggled.
For England, the chase did not seem as smoother as it was against India. It lost opener Alex Hales, in the opening over after Shaheen Afridi bowled him. But Jos Butler kept the scoreboard moving.
After Butler and Phil Salt fell, Stokes and Harry Brook backed the scoring with a 39-run stand. In the 13th over, Brook also got out.
Shaheen Afridi got injured after he bowled 2.1 overs, and this might have turned in England's favour, one could say. He was bowling at 6 per over economy and had taken a crucial wicket in the opening itself. Shaheen's replacement, Iftikar Ahmed, got punished by Stokes with a four and a six.