On Sunday, Babar Azam and Jos Buttler will lead Pakistan and England respectively as the two teams are set to collide for the title of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The journeys of the two teams for the summit clash have been nothing short of incredible as at one stage of the tournament both sides were on the brink of early elimination. But the two teams have risen to the occasion and paved their way to the final. On the eve of the final, here is a look at five memorable encounters between England and Pakistan in T20Is. (Image: ICC)
Third T20I, Sharjah, 2015 (England won in the Super Over) | The last match of the 2015 T20I series in the UAE saw England edging out Pakistan in the one-over eliminator after the game ended in a tie. Riding on James Vince’s 46 and Chris Woakes’ (37) flourish towards the end, England posted 154/8. In reply, Pakistan’s top order collapsed at 11/3 and subsequently to 65/5 but Shoaib Malik (75 off 54) played out of skin to keep Pakistan in the hunt. Skipper Shahid Afridi (29) also took the match deep but with 2 needed off 2, Malik holed out at long-on going for the glory shot, and with a bye on the last ball, the match got tied. Chris Jordan bowled a brilliant Super Over to restrict Pakistan to 3/1, which was chased down by Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan with ease in 5 balls. (Image: AP)
First T20I, Nottingham, 2021 (Pakistan won by 31 runs) | Thanks to a 150-run opening stand between skipper Babar Azam (85) and Mohammad Rizwan (63), Pakistan posted their highest T20I total against England (232/6) in the run-fest at Nottingham. Chasing a mammoth target, the England top order was put on the back foot by Shaheen Shah Afridi (3/30) but Liam Livingstone fought back and hit a brilliant 103 off 43. Shadab Khan spun his magic in the middle overs with 3 wickets as England were eventually bowled out for 201 in 19.2 overs. (Image: Reuters)
Group E match, T20 World Cup 2010, Bridgetown (England won by 6 wickets) | Kevin Pietersen’s unbeaten 73 off 52 balls was the highlight of this match, which saw Pakistan scrapping to reach to 147/9, with contributions from the top order but no big innings from anyone. In reply, England got off to a steady start before KP flattened the Pakistanis with his authoritative strokeplay. The result of the match, which went to the last over, could’ve been different had Pakistan held on to the catches and not missed a simple run-out chance in the penultimate over as England reached the target with 3 balls remaining. (Image: AFP)
Third T20I, Manchester, 2021 (England won by 3 wickets) | It was the series decider and it turned out to be a thriller. Mohammad Rizwan’s unbeaten 76 helped Pakistan post a competitive 154/6 after Adil Rashid (4/35) put up a show with the ball. Chasing a tricky target, Jason Roy (64 off 36) came out all guns blazing but England lost their way in the middle overs as Mohammad Hafeez (3/28) spun a web around the Englishmen. But skipper Eoin Morgan's (21 off 12) late impetus meant that England needed 6 off the last over. But Morgan got out on the second ball, leaving 4 to win. Chris Jordan kept his calm and squeezed out two consecutive doubles to pull off a memorable win. (Image: Reuters)
Second T20I, Karachi, 2022 (Pakistan won by 10 wickets) | It rained sixes and fours in Karachi in another run-fest which saw 402 runs being scored in less than 40 overs. A combined batting effort, led by Moeen Ali (55* off 23), saw England posting 199/5 in their quota of 20 overs. But Babar (110* off 66) and Rizwan (88* off 51) made light work of an imposing target as Pakistan chased down the target with 3 balls to spare. (Image: AP)