England have a shot at redemption in tomorrow’s T20 World Cup final when they face Pakistan at the MCG.
Jos Buttler’s side suffered a heartbreaking defeat to West Indies in the 2016 final, when Ben Stokes was infamously smashed for four successive sixes in the final over by Carlos Braithwaite.
It’s been a long journey for England to become world beaters in white-ball cricket and that painful loss was almost a blessing rather than a curse.
READ MORE:
They learned a lot of lessons from that excruciating loss on the big stage as they watched the Caribbean side, littered with T20 stars like Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, Daren Sammy and Marlon Samuels, celebrate with the trophy.
That image was left etched on the memories of the English camp as crestfallen captain Eoin Morgan gave his post-match speech. That moment pushed the white-ball reset, which started at the previous year’s 50-over World Cup — where they were embarrassingly dumped out at the group stage — into full throttle.
Buttler, Stokes, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan are the survivors from that crushing 2016 defeat primed to fire their country to a first T20 title since 2010.
England saw the level they needed to get to and the blueprint was ready made. West Indies were graced with a golden generation of stars, who honed their craft in T20 leagues around the world.
The ECB initially hated franchise cricket and especially the IPL, because it clashed with the start of their summer season. Who could forget Kevin Pietersen’s countless collisions with the hierarchy over his availability for the glamorous big-money league?
As they say, if you can’t beat them, join them. And that’s exactly what they did.
England’s players started plying their trade in T20 franchises around the world and how greatly it has benefitted them since. They have become feared in the white-ball formats with players at their disposal who are experienced in different conditions and equipped with the tools to counter whatever is thrown at them.
The feather in Morgan’s cap was leading England to the 50-over World Cup on home soil in 2019 in that famous nail-biting final against New Zealand at Lord’s. A perfect culmination to the four-year story which started with their humbling in 2015.
Morgan was an innovator and a great tactical mind when the pressure was on. Something you can see has rubbed off on successor Buttler.
But Buttler is quick to remind people he’s the captain now.
And he’s one step closer to leading England to T20 World Cup glory, to make them dual white-ball champions, than Morgan was last year when they suffered semi-final agony at the hands of New Zealand.
There are plenty of similarities between the triumph of 2019 and their run to the final this time around. After a shaky start they have shown why they were so fancied pre-tournament as they have plotted their way to the showpiece occasion amid the pressure of needing to win their final four matches to land the title.
England are a well-rounded side who have taken T20 cricket to a whole new level. They put a key emphasis on specific match-ups and their assets’ strengths as well as their opponent’s weaknesses.
Even without key components Jonny Bairstow, Jofra Archer, Reece Topley — and now Mark Wood and Dawid Malan — missing through injury they are one win away from lifting the trophy.
The strength in depth is incredible, you just have to look at how flexible their batting line-up is to see how far they have come in the last few years. If the openers don’t come off they have options to go and steady the ship and if they do, like they did against India, they have weapons in their vast armoury to continue the charge.
Buttler's tactics against India were spot on and it highlights how much thought goes on behind the scenes. Keeping dangerous ‘SKY’ quiet and employing a ‘front stop’ to counter Hardik Pandya hitting down the ground are just two examples of his readiness to think outside the box.
This is their golden chance to make up for last year’s disappointment. Anything less than a trophy from those two World Cups would be classified as failure for this much-heralded side.
But you can’t write off plucky Pakistan, who are desperate to play the party poopers 30 years on from when they beat England in the 1992 World Cup final.
That day Pakistan’s fantastic bowling attack, led by the great Wasim Akram, got the better of England’s batters.
And it’s their bowlers who have come to the fore once again on the grandest stage. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan have both taken 10 wickets apiece with averages in the 14s whilst going at just over a run-a-ball.
England destroyed India in their semi-final as openers Buttler and Hales smashed a record T20 World Cup partnership of 170 as they chased down their target with a mammoth four overs to spare.
But it will be difficult to plunder Pakistan’s fine attack to all parts of Melbourne. England edged the thrilling pre-World Cup seven-match series 4-3 and another gripping encounter is in store.
All eyes are on the Melbourne skies with the weather in the city, which has already hit this blockbuster tournament hard, set to play its part in the final.
There is a reserve day in place for Monday, with playing standards being set at a minimum 10-overs-per-side rather than the usual five. If play is suspended on Sunday, then it will resume on the following day rather than being restarted.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
