Ben Stokes was the hero for England once again helping his side beat Pakistan by five wickets in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup in a classic at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The man for big occasions hit an unbeaten 52 from 49 balls to help England chase down 138 run target with five wickets to spare despite another herculean effort from Pakistan’s bowlers.
Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf kept Pakistan in the game but a recurrence of Shaheen’s injury changed the landscape considerably in the end.
Jos Buttler (26) Moeen Ali (19) and Harry Brook (20) also chipped in with valuable runs as Pakistan’s target proved well below par.
Earlier in the day, asked to bat first, Pakistan managed to put just 137/8 on the board after their batting went missing once again.
Mohammad Rizwan was dismissed for 15 in the fifth over and Pakistan never recovered from there as England’s bowlers tied Pakistan down.
Babar Azam (32), Shan Masood (38) and Shadab Khan (20) were the major contributors as the Green shirts failed to find any rhythm in their innings.
Player of the Tournament Sam Curran was the standout bowler for England with 3/12 from his four overs.
Despite the low target Pakistan’s bowling once again started brightly with Shaheen removing Alex Hales in the first over before Haris Rauf sent Buttler and Phil Salt (10) back to give Pakistan hope.
With the game in the balance Sheen injured himself while taking a catch to remove Harry Brook and Stokes took apart his replacement Ifitkhar to put his side in the driving seat and did not look back eventually getting his side home by five wickets.
England becomes just the second side to lift the T20 World Cup trophy twice after West Indies.
