Disappointed Babar Azam cited Shaheen Afridi’s game-time injury as a crucial turning moment that cost Pakistan the T20 World Cup championship.
When Pakistan had 84 runs on the board for the loss of just two wickets, they appeared poised to post a respectable total.
We examine what went wrong for Pakistan in the game and how exactly they lost the match in this analysis of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final loss to England.
When Pakistan had 84 runs on the board at the end of the 11th over for the loss of just two wickets, they appeared poised to make a respectable total. However, everything came crashing down when the England bowlers made a fantastic comeback to limit them to a total of 137/8. In the final nine over of their innings, Pakistan lost six wickets for just 53 runs, averaging less than six runs per over.
Costly Powerplay
While defending their 137-run total, Pakistan took three England wickets during the powerplay, but they also lost 49 crucial runs. The defence team must not only take wickets in low-scoring games, but also limit the number of runs scored. Although Babar Azam’s team checked off the wickets, they were powerless to stop the flow of runs.
Even though Pakistan continued to put up a valiant fight, all it took for England’s batsmen to prevail was to keep moving around.
Shaheen ignites Pakistan, but injury dashes chances
“Should Shaheen have remained, the outcome might have been different.”
Iftikhar Ahmed, an off-spinner, finished Shaheen’s third over—the 16th of the innings—with two left-handers in the middle. He nevertheless gave up 13 runs off of five deliveries as England reduced the requirement to 28 runs from four overs.
When asked to pinpoint the aspect of the game that most negatively affected Pakistan, Babar emphasised that “the fight in the bowling was good.”
In addition to defending their low total, Pakistan needed to get off to a quick start to lessen any harm that England might cause during the Powerplay. At the T20 World Cup, England had the highest run average (52) at the loss of the fewest wickets, and while they scored 49 in the championship game, it came at the expense of Phil Salt and in-form openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales. With a devastating yorker to eliminate Hales in the opening over and immediately improve Pakistan’s chances, inspirational pacer Shaheen Afridi launched the attack.
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