- Tuesday, April 30, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Ben Stokes and Sam Curran starred as England defeated Pakistan to win the Twenty20 World Cup on Sunday (13) and become the sport’s first dual white-ball champions, holding the title in both 50- and 20-over formats.
Jos Buttler’s side restricted Pakistan to 137-8 in front of a partisan 80,462 fans at a heaving Melbourne Cricket Ground before Stokes’s unbeaten 52 steered them to a five-wicket victory with six balls remaining.
Curran, adjudged as the player-of-the-match and tournament, took 3-12 while spinner Adil Rashid chipped in with 2-22.
In reply, the Three Lions slumped to 49-3 in the sixth over as they struggled to get any momentum against Pakistan’s fiery pace attack, with the batters struggling to score boundaries.
But veterans Stokes (52 not out) and Moeen Ali (19) used their experience and cool heads to guide England to 138-5 with six balls to spare.
“In finals, especially when chasing, you probably forget all the hard work before that. To restrict them to 130, the bowlers have to take a lot of credit. Adil Rashid and Sam Curran won us the game,” Stokes said.
“Pretty good evening. Representing your country in World Cups is amazing, it has been a good one.”
Curran said Stokes should have been the player of the match.
“We all look up to him. People question him, but he’s incredible. He’s the man,” he said.
“The way I bowl, I go into the wicket with my slower balls and keep the batsmen guessing. World champions, how good,” he added.
The victory added to the 50-over title that England won in 2019, building on the legacy of former captain Eoin Morgan, who retired this year after transforming the outfit into top performers in the white-ball variety.
It was also a revenge for England who had lost against the same opposition at the same venue in the 50-over World Cup held in 1992. England had lost that game by 22 runs.
[With AFP inputs]
