England’s pros get the better of Pakistan’s flair

Melbourne: Mathew Hayden – Pakistan’s batting mentor had imagined that England could be sort of a force at the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup here in Australia.

While fielding questions at the stand up interaction with the media before the final, the forner Australian opener made it a point to mention England’s depth in batting with leg spinner Adil Rashid — he has ten first class centuries — slotted as the 11th man!
Hayden and Adam Gilchrist were fearsome openers in ODIs for Australia – their partnership in 114 innings realised 5372 runs, the second highest behind Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly ‘s 6610 runs. Hayden hjghlighted Jos Buttler and Alex Hales’ unbeaten 170 run partnership that flattened India in the semi-finals at the Adelaide Oval.

Hayden was proved right as England went on to win the title defeating Pakistan . It was a tense match until Shaheen Shah Afridi limped off the field with a knee injury. After the deadly Afridi left the contest, runs flowed for England with Ben Stokes showing a lot of determination to stay put in the crease till the job was done.

Engjand won because it had the collective wherewithal to upstage Pakistan’s individual flair. Skipper Jos Buttler won the toss, elected to field and his bowlers bowled to the field. Left arm seamer Sam Curran was splendid and so were Adil Rashid. Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes also helped to controll the proceedings.

When England began to chase 138, the Pakistan fast bowlers rose to the occasion. Afridi and Haris Rauf were simply magnificent. Naseem Shah went for some runs in his first over,but came back to.keep his side in the fray.

Overall it was a professional show put up by the England bowlers. “I think the depth of bowling has been amazing. I think our bowling has improved no end, and I think that’s why we sat here as champions to be honest. I think our bowling has improved fantastically well. Sam Curran has stepped up and been an absolute revelation. He’s a brilliant cricketer. He loves those crunch moments. He’s deserved Player of the Tournament for this, and we’re so proud to have him in our team.”