(Cricket news) On Sunday at the MCG, England defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets to lift the T20 World Cup. England became the 2nd club after West Indies to win the T20 World Cup twice. Before the tournament England was always one of the favourites and they have peaked at the right time. The stone was laid in June when long term white ball captain Eoin Morgan announced his retirement due to bad form. Jos Buttler was named captain and the team started to build on that. England were dealt with injury blows before the tournament as Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow and Tymal Mills were ruled out. After the group stages, two of England's most important players in Mark Wood and Dawid Malan got injured and didn't take part in the semi-final and final. England despite missing key players showed their great depth and managed to become the first men's team to hold the ODI and T20I World Cup together.
England's World Cup campaign started with a 5 wicket win over Afghanistan which was a close contest or at least closer than the scorecard suggested. The 2nd game was a disastrous 5 run loss in the rain affected game against Ireland. After the loss England players were criticised for their approach and rightly so but then the switch happened. After the mega clash against Australia was rained out, England got two brilliant wins against New Zealand and Sri Lanka to book their place in the semi-finals. They defeated India quite comfortably by 10 wickets in the semi-final. In the final England got the job done thanks to Ben Stokes and their bowling attack.
Sam Curran picked up 13 wickets in the tournament including 3 in the final. The all-rounder was awarded the Player of the Match in the final and the Player of the Tournament. Curran was incredible with the ball throughout the tournament in all parts of the game. In the final he didn't concede a single boundary in his 4 overs spell and finished with a tournament economy of just 6.5. After missing the last T20 World Cup due to injury he has come back stronger than ever. It is just the start of what promises to be an incredible career in all 3 formats. Curran will definitely be one of the most expensive players in the IPL auction for next season.
The opening combination of Jos Buttler and Alex Hales has been incredible in this tournament. Ben Stokes once again showed why he is the man for the big occasions and is arguably the most clutch player of all time. When England lost the 2016 T20 World Cup final against West Indies, it was Stokes who conceded 4 consecutive sixes in the final over to Carlos Braithwaite. Since then he has gone on to become a stalwart for England in all formats. The all-rounder has now played match winning knocks in the ODI and T20 World Cup final. England will now focus on the ODI World Cup next year where they will once again enter as favourites.
Also read: Australia opening batter David Warner hints at Test retirement next year
