England on Sunday became the first team to hold the 50-over Cricket World Cup and 20-over World Cup at the same time. The Jos Buttler-led side achieved the feat after beating Pakistan in a nervy T20 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. After the result, legendary fast bowler Wasim Akram highlighted a few mistakes made by the Pakistan team during the final. Akram felt while the team fought well, the batting approach wasn’t up to the mark. He also pointed out a few captaincy lapses, which swung the game back in England’s favour.
“A total 137 was never going to be enough on this track. We made so many mistakes in batting. In the end, we fought well. Shaheen’s injury did have an impact as he did not bowl two overs. Some captaincy issues were there in between, especially when Moeen Ali came out to bat. I think they Iftikhar should’ve bowled an over there,” Akram said on A Sports.
In the final, Ben Stokes and Sam Curran starred as England edged Pakistan by five wickets.
Jos Buttler’s side held Pakistan to 137-8 in front of a partisan 80,462 fans at the MCG, with player-of-the-match and tournament Curran bagging 3/12 and Adil Rashid chipping with 2/22.
In reply, England slumped to 49-3 in the sixth over as they struggled to get any momentum against a fiery pace attack, with boundaries hard to come by.
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But Stokes (52 not out) and Moeen Ali (19) used their experience and cool heads to guide England to a win with six balls to spare.
(With AFP Inputs)
