England captain Jos Buttler elected to bowl after winning the toss against Pakistan in the mega clash of the ongoing T20 World Cup final at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
On their road to the final, England and Pakistan basically took the same path. As the Super 12 came to a close, both teams had slim chances of earning a spot in the semifinals, but they went on a rampage and advanced to the knockout stages by placing second in their respective groups. However, their parallels didn’t end there as both teams won comfortably in the semifinals to secure a spot in the championship game.
Advertisement
Pakistan qualified for the semifinals even after losing their first two Super 12 games and winning the next three before defeating New Zealand in the semis with a seven wicket win. England on the other hand finishing second in Group 1 of the Super 12 stages with seven points, beat India by 10 wickets in 2nd semifinal to reach the final clash.
It’s going to be a battle between England’s batting line-up and Pakistan’s bowling attack. In unlikeness to Pakistan, who rely on their lethal bowling attack to win, Jos Buttler’s team bats fearlessly. They have bowlers who can end the match with the new ball, spinners who can stop runs in the middle overs, and specialists who can apply the stranglehold in the final few overs.
“Going to bowl first. Both teams come into this final in red-hot form. Looking forward to the challenge. Little bit of weather around which is why we chose to bowl. We start fresh today. Same team,” told Jos Buttler after winning the toss.
“Would’ve also opted to bowl. We have good momentum with us and will try to continue with it. Same team,” told Babar Azam during the toss.
England (Playing XI): Jos Buttler(w/c), Alex Hales, Philip Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid
Pakistan (Playing XI): Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Shaheen Afridi.
(With Inputs from ANI)
