Adil Rashid starred with a fabulous 2-22 as England beat Pakistan in today’s T20 World Cup final in Melbourne to became double limited overs champions.
Rashid’s heroics, including getting Babar Azam caught and bowled as part of a double wicket maiden, ensured he and his team-mates followed up the 2019 50-over World Cup triumph.
England limited Pakistan to 137-8 before Harry Brook contributed 20 off 23 balls through the middle of the chase.
Sam Curran was named player of the match for his 3-12, also taking away the player of the tournament award for his 13 wickets, while Ben Stokes had a day to remember with a wicket, a catch and an unbeaten 52 to see his team over the line.
New Yorkshire captain Shan Masood top-scored with 38 for Pakistan, while Dawid Malan missed out on selection having failed to recover from a groin injury he suffered late on in the Super 12s stage of the competition.
England far from breezed the chase, falling to 84-4 in the 13th over on a sluggish pitch as this season’s Yorkshire overseas quick Haris Rauf struck twice.
But Rashid, who ousted Mohammad Haris with his first ball, said: “Everyone was nervous, but as long as we had Stokes, Moeen and Liam Livingstone to come, we had the firepower to get us over the line.
“It feels good. I’m so proud of the boys. It shows from the position we were in earlier in the tournament how things can change, and we had the belief and we’ve gone all the way.
“We will cherish this moment for the rest of our lives.”
England limited overs coach Matthew Mott was full of praise for Rashid, Yorkshire’s 34-year-old spin wizard who claimed all of his four wickets in the last group victory over Sri Lanka, the semi-final win over India and today’s final.
“Rash has been exceptional,” said the Australian. “He’s just got better every game.
“His changes of pace tonight were amazing, and he just pulled it back at the right at the time.
“Rash can bowl any over in the innings, which is a great skill to have, and whenever we need a wicket he’s the bloke that we turn to a lot.
“Every time we do our match-ups, he’s high on every column.”
As England’s players began their celebrations at the MCG to the strains of Sweet Caroline, Brook told Michael Atherton, who was conducting some of the on-field interviews, that victory felt “so good, just so good”.
He added: “A lot of people would say they wouldn’t expect to win a World Cup at 23, but being in this squad with the players we’ve got I always felt we would win it.
“We’ve shown the world how good we are tonight.”
