England have lifted their second T20 World Cup title with a 5-wicket victory against Pakistan in the grand finale at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
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With a batting depth unparalleled in World Cricket at the moment, a spirited bowling performance from the Pakistan bowlers tonight was simply not enough to stop them from chasing a rather modest total of 137/8.
One of the highlight of the run-chase was Pakistani pacer Naseem Shah (4-0-30-0) who bowled with very little luck to beat the outside edge of the English batters at least a dozen times, to make lives difficult for them on the MCG pitch which stayed true to its nature this tournament on the grand finale night as well.
However, a certain Ben Stokes stood tall, and rose to the occasion yet again akin the 2019 World Cup final to take his side over the finishing line with an Over to spare, with a 49-ball innings worth 52* runs.
Jos Buttler, who skipped his side for the first time in a T20 World Cup, led with distinction and scored a vital 17-ball 26 in the chase, with Moeen Ali (19 off 13) as the other important contributor during the fag end of the innings.
Mohammed Shami tears down Shoaib Akhtar
Former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar, who had a couple of days ago exclaimed that team India is at its lowest point right now when it comes to ICC events and that they did not deserve to take a flight to Melbourne to play the final post their semi-final exit, has been roasted by Indian pacer Mohammed Shami.
Post Pakistan’s loss against England a few minutes ago in the final, Akhtar simply posted a heartbreak emoji via his Twitter handle, symbolic of the hurt he perhaps felt after his team lost an opportunity to lift their second T20 World Cup title as well.
A few minutes later, sensing a perfect opportunity, Shami replied to Akhtar’s post with the comment, “Sorry brother. It’s call karma,” perhaps referring to the former pacer’s aforementioned comment pertaining team India.
Earlier, England’s leading wicket-taker this World Cup, Sam Curran (4-0-12-3) produced a stellar spell of bowling yet again, and alongside spinner Adil Rashid (4-1-22-2) and Chris Jordan (4-0-27-2) restricted Pakistan to an under-par total of 137/8 in their 20 Overs.
