MELBOURNE (National Times)- Three Pakistan top-order batters — Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam Mohammad Haris — were sent back to the pavilion in the final clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Rizwan was sent back to the pavilion after being dismissed by Sam Curran while Haris lost his wicket to Adil Rashid.
After being sent to bat first by England skipper Jos Buttler, Rizwan scored 15 runs off 14 balls and hit one six before getting out in the fifth over.
Haris scored 8 runs off 12 balls and hit a four while Babar made 32 runs off 28 balls and hit two fours. Both Haris and Babar were dismissed by Rashid.
Both sides are unchanged for the final match of the multi-nation tournament.
Remaining confident after the toss, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said the team is aiming to keep the momentum going — that it attained after winning four consecutive matches.
Babar noted that had he won the toss, he would have also opted to bowl first.
“We’ll try to put runs on the board and put pressure on [England]. The way the team is playing is outstanding,” he added.
The weather — which posed a major threat to the tournament’s final — has improved in Melbourne. The chance of rain has reduced from 95% to 46% before the highly-anticipated clash.
A minimum of 10 overs per side are needed to constitute a game, compared to five during the group stages. If the match starts on Sunday but isn’t finished, it will resume on Monday from where it was halted.
The final comes 30 years after Imran Khan’s Pakistan beat England to win the 50-overs World Cup, the country’s first global white-ball title — and this tournament has several similarities to the 1992 tournament.
In light of this, Babar’s team may feel it is their destiny to deliver a trophy.
“Of course, the similarities are (there),” Babar told reporters of 1992 final.
“But we will try to win the trophy as it is an honour for me to lead this team, especially on this big ground.”
Playing XI
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
England: Jos Buttler (c/wk), Alex Hales, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid.
