ENGLAND has claimed the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for 2022, after defeating Pakistan by a margin of five wickets at the MCG on Sunday night.

The victors withstood Pakistan’s blistering pace attack to stamp their authority as the premier white ball team, largely thanks to heroics from star all-rounder Ben Stokes, who continues to step up in big games. He continued that tradition with a match-winning performance wielding the bat, producing an unbeaten knock of 51, including the runs which sealed the result.

Moeen Ali played a crucial role with 19 runs in the final overs of the match, while player of the tournament Sam Curran was damaging with figures of 3/12 from four overs, with the left-hander taking full advantage of the pitch and producing plenty of seam with his deliveries, which gave Pakistan’s top-order plenty of headaches. Leg-spinner Adil Rashid was just as impressive, finishing with 2/22 with both of his wickets crucial in dismantling the opposition’s batting lineup.

Pakistan quicks Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Alfridi combined for three wickets inside the power play, with the former finishing with solid figures of 2/23 from his four overs. He looked to be battling a bit of an injury over the course of the match, but his spell was invaluable, claiming some big scalps. Shan Masood top scored at the crease for his side with 38 from 28 runs, taking plenty of doubles on the biggest boundary in Australia.

Pakistan (8/137) def. by England (5/138)

England won the toss and skipper Jos Buttler opted to bowl, a predicted decision given the movement in the pitch and his side’s successful chase down of India in the semi-final. Pakistan’s opening partnership of Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan was going to be so important for their chances, and the pair got off to a decent start, before Curran bowled the latter, who played the ball onto his stumps.

Mohammad Haris came out with some patient shot selection, but was caught on just eight runs as England began to shift into the box seat. Azam looked threatening and made his way to 32 runs (with just two boundaries, showcasing the depth of the MCG’s field) before being caught and bowled by Rashid, who had a stunning over. All-rounder Shadab Khan tried to inject some life into Pakistan’s innings with a 20-run stint, but the side could only manage 137 runs, which looked unlikely to be enough against England.

Pakistan could not have got off to a better start, with Afridi bowling English big-hitter Alex Hales on just one run, and dismantling last week’s match-winning partnership. Still, Buttler proved to be a thorn in Pakistan’s side, playing an aggressive style of play that included a trio of boundaries. Phil Salt came and went in quite quick fashion, with the ball swinging and seaming and making it extremely difficult for England’s batters to get a decent good look at the ball if it was coming in at 140km/h.

With plenty of pressure when he came in, Stokes proved himself as the best big game player in the world once again, pushing his side through a dry patch on the scoreboard and chipping away at the margin before striking in the final few overs of play. When star quick Afridi suffered a knee injury while taking a catch that ended his night, it was the nail in the coffin for Pakistan. Stokes relieved the pressure with a match-winning stint against Iftikar Ahmed, hitting a four and a six in the same over, taking the required run rate below six per over, before finally hitting the winning runs to seal the World Cup for England.