Top performances from Sam Curran and Ben Stokes powered England to their second ICC T20 World Cup title after 2010, as they defeated Pakistan by five wickets in a gripping low-scoring final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday.
England delivered a fantastic bowling performance led by Sam Curran (3/12), reducing Pakistan to 137/8. Chasing 138, England were reduced to 45/3 before the powerplay, but Stokes (52*) delivered in a big match once again to take his side to a victory.
Then Phil Salt joined skipper Jos Buttler and the duo attacked young pacer, Naseem Shah, smashing him for three fours, with the captain hitting two.
Haris Rauf intervened to send back Salt for just 10 off nine balls. All-rounder Ben Stokes came in to bat next before Rauf got his second wicket, dismissing skipper Buttler for 26 off 17 balls.
Harry Brook joined Stokes to help England reach halfway through their innings without any damage.
Stokes and Brook brought England back into the game, one run at a time. But their 39-run stand was cut short by spinner Shadab Khan, who dismissed Brook for 20 off 23 balls. Shaheen took a brilliant catch at long-off.
Moeen Ali joined Stokes to carry on with the chase with Stokes relieving some pressure by smashing a four over covers and a six over long-off to bring down the equation to 28 needed in 24 balls.
The 48-run stand between Ali and Stokes came to an end after Wasim dislodged the former's stumps. The left-hander's short, but valuable cameo was over at 19 runs in 13 balls.
Stokes brought his first half-century in T20I cricket with a four in 47 balls while levelling the scores. He (unbeaten at 52* off 49 balls) then brought up the winning runs, with Liam Livingstone at 1* and England finished the innings at 138/5 in 19 overs.
Rauf (2/23) was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan. Shaheen, Wasim and Shadab picked one each.
Earlier, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan and Adil Rashid delivered stunning spells to restrict Pakistan to 137/8
Opting to field, England dished out a clinical bowling performance as they took wickets regularly and never allowed Pakistan to get any momentum.
Babar Azam (32), Mohammad Rizwan (15), Shan Masood (38) and Shadab Khan (20) were the only ones who reached double figures but they couldn't capitalise on the starts.
Sam Curran (3/12) did most of the damage with three wickets, while Adil Rashid (2/22) and Chris Jordon (2/27) snapped two and Ben Stokes (1/32) took one wicket.
"We are World Champions, how good! Incredibly special (to have Stokes). He is someone I look up to and always turns up when the team needs him, people question him but there's no questioning him, he's the man," said Curran, who was named Player of the match and the Player of the tournament.
Sam Curran was the player of the match. He was also named player-of-the-tournament for his consistent brilliance in death bowling.
"Very special but I don't think I should be getting this, I think the way Stokesy played there, to get a 50 in the final, he does it so many times for us," said Curran.
"We are going to enjoy this occasion, very special,"
