Pakistan and England faced off in the summit clash of the ongoing 20-20 World Cup 2022 and the two teams looked confident of clinching the title at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on November 13, Sunday.
After losing the toss and being forced to bat first, Pakistan’s opener Mohammad Rizwan and skipper Babar Azam started playing cautious innings and it cost them the powerplay, to say the least. For the unversed, Pakistan managed to put on 39 runs in the first 6 overs and eventually lost Rizwan within the field restrictions as well.
To add more to the wicketkeeper’s knock, after facing 14 balls, the batter managed to gather only 15 runs, making things tougher for the middle-order batters. Babar, on the other hand, failed to come up with the right shots and eventually started to consume balls.
Huge game, good nerves and good energy: Jos Buttler
Concerning the Pakistan captain’s innings, the batter did get a start but failed to convert it into a big one as the talismanic batter returned back to the pavilion for a 28-ball 32 and many fans opined that the two batters should have played aggressive innings instead.
At the end of 20 overs, Pakistan managed to put on 137 runs on the board for the loss of 8 wickets and the match was well within the hands of Buttler and co. The Three Lions skipper, prior to the start of the match, said during the toss that the team will give it all to clinch the title.
“Huge game, good nerves and there’s a lot of good energy around the team. Great energy in the stadium and we are looking forward to a great game. Both teams come into this final in red-hot form and we are looking forward to a tough challenge,” Buttler said during the toss.
“I think it is a good wicket and hopefully it will stay the same throughout. Obviously, there’s a little bit of weather around which is why we chose to bowl. We start fresh today, we bring confidence from the other day but we know it counts for nothing today,” said the captain further.
As things stand let us take a look at a few Twitter reactions to the innings from Rizwan and Babar:
I don't know about Babar and Rizwan in bag games tbh #T20WC2022
— Mthoko Ntshingila (@Mnchingy10) November 13, 2022
Shadab is 100 times better batter than Rizwan & Babar.
— Sanaullah Achakzai (@Sanaullah_Achak) November 13, 2022
How did Babar & Rizwan bat?
— ਸੋਨਾਲੀ 🌸 (@shonalit7) November 13, 2022
babar and rizwan tuk tuk, pakistan defeats in wc 21 sm,asia cup 22 final and now in wc 22 final in last 1 year….#pakveng #pakvseng #engvpak
— shahram ijaz qadir (@sharrythesharp) November 13, 2022
It’s high time we believed in the fact that Babar and Rizwan are not the perfect openers. They put a lot of pressure on the middle order. Let’s still hope we get this Final
— Furqan T. Siddiqui (@furqantsiddiqui) November 13, 2022
Babar Azam aur Muhammad Rizwan hamesha ki tarha marwaty huy #BabarAzam𓃵 #BabarAzam #rizwan #PakVsEngFinal #pakvseng
— Muhammad Bilal (@muhammadbilalle) November 13, 2022
Worst fears coming true. Chacha, Haris, Babar, Rizwan not performing in the match that matters. #PAKvENG
— Hina Khan (@cesthinakhan) November 13, 2022
The fact Masood has been miles better than Rizwan and Babar shows how much pathetic they both have been. Dont know if this management has guts but its time to move on from Rizwan when you have Haris in the XI.
— Zainab (@autumnfall098) November 13, 2022
