By a Staff Reporter
England sneaked past Pakistan by 5 wickets to lift the title of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

England, who won the toss at Melbourne Cricket Ground elected to field first. A poor start from the high-profile openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam limited Pakistan to 137/8 in the prescribed 20 overs.
Pakistan’s inning
The first wicket of the match came in 4.2 overs. Sam Curran bowled Mohammad Rizwan when he was at 15 runs off 14 deliveries. The number 3 batsman Mohammad Haris then entered the crease to collect 8 runs off 12 deliveries.
Babar Azam scored 32 runs with 2 fours off 28 balls before returning to the pavilion in 11.1 overs. Adil Rashid delivered and caught to send Babar and Pakistan’s title hope off.
Shan Masood played the big inning for Pakistan. With two fours and a sixer, he contributed a total of 38 runs off 28 balls. Mohammad Haris (8), Iftikhar Ahmed (0), Shadab Khan (20), Mohammad Nawaz (5), and Mohammad Wasim added 4 runs to the tally.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf remained not out for 5 and 1 runs. England’s star boy Sam Curran claimed 3 wickets in his name. Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan booked 2 in their name and Ben Stokes took a single wicket to limit Pakistan to a tiny 137 runs.
England’s inning
Pakistani pacers gave their best to defend the winning target of 138 runs but failed to keep all-rounder Ben Stokes down. A heroic half-century inning from Ben Stokes gave England the ICC Men’s World Cup Trophy.
England’s opener duo Jos Buttler and Alex Hales who were magnificent in their semifinal against India failed to meet the expectations in the final. A 26 runs inning from Buttler and a single run from Hales were below par.
Ben Stokes then stepped in the crease to smash 52 runs off 49 deliveries with 5 fours and 1 sixer, which guided England towards the World Cup title after 12 years.
Phil Salt (10), Harry Brook (20), Moeen Ali (19), and Liam Livingstone scored 1 run to successfully chase the winning target with an over to spare. Pakistani bowler Haris Rauf took 2 wickets whereas Shaheen Shan Afridi, Shadab Khan, and Mohammad Wasim claimed 1 wicket in their name.
With the win, England became the first-ever team in the history of cricket to hold the ODI and the T20 World Cup at the same time. They won the 2019 ODI World Cup by defeating New Zealand.