Pakistan set England a modest target of 138 to win the T20 World Cup final on Sunday after England captain Jos Buttler sent them in to bat at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam (32) and Shan Masood (38) got off to a good start, but England’s bowlers never allowed the South Asians to settle, and wickets fell in the last overs as they were bowled out for 137.
Sam Curran finished with miserly stats of 3-12 off four overs, dismissing Mohammad Rizwan for 15 for the first wicket and collecting two more scalps in the dying overs.
Adil Rashid (2-22) was also instrumental in Pakistan’s restriction, taking a stunning caught-and-bowled dismissal of Babar after dismissing number three Mohammad Haris for eight.
On Sunday, Pakistan was beaten in the World Cup final by England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The Green Shirts had made a match of it after a subpar batting performance but a superb bowling recovery before an untimely injury to star bowler Shaheen Afridi a ball into the 16th over prompted Babar Azam to turn to part-timer Iftikhar Ahmed.
The loss of the southpaw pacer depressed the squad, as his substitute Iftikhar was quickly dispatched for a pair of boundaries by Ben Stokes, and the match was effectively over.
Earlier, Pakistan pacers headed by Shaheen and Haris Rauf performed an outstanding job of keeping their side in the competition despite having just 137 to defend.
Shaheen, as usual, was outstanding in the first over, dismissing Alex Hales. As previously stated, luck was not on Pakistan’s side, as seen by the lanky pacer injuring himself when taking the catch of Harry Brook.
