Sports Desk:

England vowed to continue their juggernaut as they take on a resurgent Pakistan in the T20 World Cup final tomorrow (Sunday) at the historical Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

The big final at one of the cricket’s biggest stadium starts at 2 PM as per Bangladesh Time.

A lot is up for grab for the two teams when they faced off for a summit clash. England will try to add a T20 World Cup in their showcase after winning 2019 Men’s Cricket World Cup while Pakistan are keen to prove that they have the ability to rise from the ashes.

Both of the teams, however, will try to be the first team after West Indies to win the T20 World Cup for the second time, having previously won the trophy in 2009 (Pakistan) and 2010 (England).

Interestingly it will be their first meeting in T20 World Cup after 2010.

They played against each other twice in 2009 and 2010 and England emerged as the winner on both occasions. In face to face clash in T20 International cricket, England have the huge edge over Pakistan, winning 18 times out of 28 encounters. Pakistan won nine times while other match ended in a no result.

Ahead of the T20 World Cup, the two teams played a seven-match T20 series in Pakistan and England eventually emerged winner with 4-3 result.

All of the stat, record and performance are in England’s favour but that doesn’t mean, Pakistan will be a mere spectator in the final, according to England captain Jos Buttler who stood on the brink of a history to win a big trophy just at the first year of his captaincy.

“We expect a really tough challenge, as mentioned before. They’re a team we’ve seen lots of in the recent past, and we’ve had some brilliant matches against them, played in a fantastic spirit and I’m sure tomorrow will be no different,” Buttler said in the pre-final conference at MCG today.

He said the key to success is to deal with the Pakistan fast bowlers who led by Shaheen Afridi helped the side produce a famous comeback after losing first two matches at the hands of archrivals India and minnows Zimbabwe.

“Pakistan are a fantastic team. I think they have a very long history of producing excellent fast bowlers, and I see the team that we’re up against as no different,” Buttler said.

England though also have own share of pain. Even though they toppled every big team including India in the semifinal confidently, they lost a game to Ireland in group phase. It’s the only spot of bother of their clinical journey in this T20 World Cup.

“Obviously the Ireland match is a big disappointment for us as a team throughout this tournament, but certainly feels a long time ago now. Being able to sit in this position on the eve of the World Cup final, I think we will have learnt quite a few lessons throughout that game and actually the lead-up into the game.”

Pakistan’s journey was almost similar to what happened in 1992 World Cup. Like 92 World Cup, led by Imran Khan, they were almost out of the World Cup before producing some extraordinary performances to reach the final. Like 92 World Cup, they beat super dominant New Zealand in the semifinal and like that World Cup they got England in the final. Now it is to see whether they can replicate the 92 World Cup.

But Babar Azam, the Pakistan captain would get a huge fan base behind him in Melbourne which will give him a home like condition.

“Of course we’ve our first two matches lost, and that cost us. But the way our team come back last four matches and they perform very well, and we are playing good cricket in the last four matches. Yes, we will try to continue that momentum in the final,” Babar said ahead of the final.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood.

England: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Tymal Mills, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Alex Hales.