T20 World Cup Final: Preview, Match-ups and Predictions

England search for their second T20 World Cup title a on Sunday as they face up to Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground- 8am GMT.

Both sides have come from unlikely positions to reach the final. England suffered a shock defeat to Ireland in the group stages as well as facing a wash out with Australia left them needing maximum points from their matches with tough opposition- New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Pakistan were also in an unlikely position to qualify from the Super 12s with two losses early on in the competition. Sitting in third on the final day of Group B matches, South Africa’s unexpected defeat to Netherlands secured Pakistan’s place in the Semi Finals where they saw off New Zealand.

England’s Road to the Final:

Group 1:

Afghanistan – Won by five wickets

Ireland – Lost by five runs (DLS)

Australia – Match abandoned without a ball bowled

New Zealand – Won by 20 runs

Sri Lanka – Won by four wickets

Semi Final:

India – Won by 10 wickets

Pakistan’s Road to the Final:

Group 2:

India – Lost by four wickets

Zimbabwe – Lost by one run

Netherlands – Won by six wickets

South Africa – Won by 33 runs (DLS)

Bangladesh – Won by five wickets

Semi Final:

New Zealand – Won by seven wickets

The Seven Match Series

Prior to the World Cup’s warm up matches, England travelled to Pakistan for a seven match T20 series. England took the spoils in the decider with Moeen Ali leading the side throughout the series in the absence of Jos Buttler.

Pakistan proved problematic throughout the series; Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam scored five 50s and a century between them in the seven match series, topping the run scoring charts despite the series defeat.

In the second match, the pair chased 200 between them making it the highest successful run chase by 10 wickets in T20I history.

Mark Wood’s return to T20I cricket was a ground-breaking one. With two matches and six wickets at an average of seven and at less than a-run-a-ball, his fitness in the World Cup was going to be key.

Stand-in captain Ali also stood out for England. Taking on his role in the middle order as a finish proved a great success as he had three not outs in four innings giving him an average of 142 with a strike rate of just under 160.

Haris Rauf stood out for Pakistan on the bowling front with eight wickets in the series for the hosts, however his lack of support couldn’t always be backed up with the bat enough to secure a series win.

The Battle of the Openers

Buttler and Alex Hales vs Rizwan and Azam will be expected to be a key match-up for this final.

Hales and Buttler would have the spoils as the better opening pair in the competition so far with two 50s a piece and some hard hitting in the powerplay to set their teams up for great results, however the Pakistani openers may have peaked at the right time.

Azam is still under three figures for runs in the competition despite his 53 in the semi-final which was supported by 57 from Rizwan who has 160 runs in the tournament. The relying on the middle-order seems to be put aside in key matches for Pakistan although they have stepped up when required.

For this particular match-up Hales and Buttler would be the favourites to have a more damaging effect, however the Pakistani pair’s understanding of one another and converting ones into twos is at times unstoppable.

The Bowling Attacks

The two bowling attacks in the final are very comparable and have performed to similar effects in the World Cup. However, they do have subtle differences between them.

In the wickets column both sides have two bowlers who have stood out. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan with 10 a piece compared to Sam Curran and Mark Wood’s 10 and nine respectively.

While Pakistan have a more traditional line-up of three to four seamers with sheer pace that control the powerplay and death and two spinners that bowl in the middle, England differ slightly.

England’s bowlers have all been used in all stages of the innings so far in this World Cup, potentially giving them the edge. Wood is expected to return following his injury in replacement for Chris Jordan. His pace of upward of 90mph has been most deadly in overs 10-15 while his counterpart in bowling styles, Haris Rauf, is most commonly used in the powerplay and at the death.

Adil Rashid has found form in the economy column of late, conceding less than a-run-a-ball in their last two, bowling defensively to restrict boundaries while Khan is an aggressive wicket taker was has had a variety of runs conceded throughout the competition.

Pakistan’s Mohammad duo of Nawaz and Wasim have shared overs. Left-arm spinner of Nawaz has been the least impactful of the Pakistan attack so far with England likely to look to attack the four overs used between the pair. However, seamer Wasim has been dangerous, picking up seven wickets in the tournament.

Mystery spin of Liam Livingstone and frequent change-ups of Curran becoming England’s reliable death bowler is something England edge over their Asian counterparts. While England have only Wood likely to bowl upwards of 90mph, Pakistan have three.

With Afridi, Naseem Shah and the aforementioned Rauf at Pakistan’s disposal , if pace doesn’t work, England are more likely to see success with ball in hand with options of Curran, Livingstone, Rashid all being useful as well as Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes who bowl more deliveries around the 80mph mark.

Final Predictions

With Dawid Malan likely to be out injured still and Phil Salt in his place, England are likely to continue going hard in the powerplay with Ben Stokes likely to play a more rebuilding role at number four.

Mark Wood has been back to bowling close to full speeds in nets in build up to the game, rebuilding the jigsaw that somewhat was missing a piece in the latter stages of their semi-final with India.

With three right-handers in the top three in both England and Pakistan’s case, the leg-spinners are likely to get more overs in the powerplay to prevent bowling to left-handers later on with the ball spinning into them.

The MCG being known for big square and short straight boundaries, the game plan for bowlers will likely be to keep the ball back of a length with spinners likely to bowl quicker through the air and seamers potentially using more changes of pace when bowling into the pitch- making Curran a real key for England if he can use his aforementioned effects from previous matches in Sunday’s final.

England will go into the match as favourites as they look to add to their white ball success from 2010 and the ODI World Cup in 2019, however with no win ever at the MCG in T20 internationals, a couple of individual performances from the men in green could see a repeat of 1992.

Rain is forecasted on Sunday in Melbourne, circumstances could allow a 10 over match to finish on Monday, however if no result is possible then a joint trophy will be awarded.

In the UK, the match will be broadcasted on free television- Channel 4- along with it’s usual coverage on Sky Sports from throughout the competition.