England and Pakistan lock horns in the T20 World Cup final at the MCG

(Cricket news) The T20 World Cup in Australia has been full of drama and it will conclude on Sunday as England take on Pakistan in the final at the MCG. Both the teams have reached the final after a dominant win in the semis. England won by 10 wickets against India while Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 7 wickets. Two excellent teams will be going head to head for the covated trophy. The big issue is that the weather forecast is not promising. Rain is expected to fall throughout the entire day. ICC have kept a reserve day on Monday but rain is expected to fall on that day as well. If the match is not completed even on the reserve day then the trophy will be shared.

England's possible playing XI:

Alex Hales, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

Bench:

Philip Salt, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Tymal Mills

There are big question marks around the fitness of Wood and Malan who missed the semi-final. If the pair are fit then they will definitely play and if not than Jordan and Salt can play in their place. England have 7 bowling options which is a luxury but without Wood they lack someone with raw pace which is why a lot of eyes will be on Wood's fitness. Hales and Buttler will be coming into the match high on confidence but they will be facing the lightning quick attack of Pakistan which will be very interesting to see. 

Pakistan possible playing XI:

Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi

Bench:

Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Haider Ali

Pakistan's playing XI is all set and unless there are some forced changes they should retain the same line-up. Their opening combination finally turned up in the semi-final which is a big boost for the team. All 6 bowlers i.e 4 seamers and 2 spinners will be very important against England's deep batting line-up that has batting prowess till number 9. Shaheen Afridi has also come back to his own at the right time and will be looking to make his mark at the MCG.

Also read: What's next the Indian T20I team after World Cup disappointment

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