England and Pakistan will go head to head tomorrow in the T20 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Having beaten India and New Zealand respectively, the two nations will be hoping the Australian weather does not disrupt what is bound to be a highly-anticipated showdown on the biggest stage. Gulf News cricket experts Shyam, Satish and Ashfaq look ahead to the final.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Golf News straight back. So, after a month and 44 games, it all comes
00:12down to this. It's England against Pakistan in the final of the T20 World Cup to be held
00:18at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. There's going to be well over 100,000 fans packed inside
00:23that old famous stadium for what's bound to be a cracker of a cricket match. It's safe
00:28to say that the Pakistan against England prediction probably wasn't on anyone's minds
00:33this time last week. After Pakistan lost the opening two games of the tournament, they
00:37somehow managed to get to the semi-finals. England didn't look very convincing in their
00:41group stages, but in the semi-finals, both the two teams, they turned on the style delivering
00:46comprehensive wins, which now sees them face off for the titles. It's going to be a great
00:51game. I'm joined by Shyam, Satish and Ashfaq to talk about the match. Starting with Shyam,
00:57it's set to be a tantalising final, isn't it?
01:00I think it'll be an explosive final. But the caveat there is there's a huge rain threat,
01:0692% possibility of rain. And the good thing about the final is they have a reserve day,
01:12which will allow the raindrop part of the game to be played the next day. But the damper
01:19there again is the reserve day is also under rain threat. But let's assume that the rain
01:25will stay away and the match will go on. I think it is only fair that we should have
01:29a very good match in the sense like, having such a fantastic tournament with so many upsets
01:34and so many very close finishes, I think we need an explosive finish. And England and
01:39Pakistan can provide that tomorrow.
01:41Satish, would you say that England are the favourites after the way they absolutely thrashed
01:46India in the semi-final?
01:47Yes, Imran, England were the favourites probably even before the start of the tournament. They
01:52are probably the best team in terms of the personnel, the depth, the variety in the team.
02:00So they started as favourites, excepting a blip against Ireland, I think they by and
02:06large played to their potential. So I would say England are certainly a big favourite
02:12in tomorrow's game. Of course, with Pakistan, you can't say anything. They can come up and
02:18do something unimaginable. They will come back and do the impossible with ease. So it's
02:26going to be a good final. But I would say England played to their potential and they
02:31are there in their rightful place in the final.
02:34Ash, do you think Shaheen Shah, Freedy, Adko can limit England's dangerous batsmen? Or
02:41are you worried after the way you saw them play against India and just tear them apart?
02:48Thank you, Imran. See, Pakistan's pace attack will make the difference. Otherwise, there's
02:55no chance. If Shaheen Shah, Freedy and company, Wasim and Naseem and Haris Rao, if they strike
03:03in the power play and they get some wickets, that's the key. If they manage to pass through
03:07the power play, then it's going to be a very tough game. Because the difference between
03:12both the teams, Pakistan, I would say, honestly, is entering the match slightly underdog compared
03:20to the Indian side. But Pakistan has a huge advantage of a spalling attack, which has
03:24been the best in the tournament. And Shaheen Shah, Freedy will have to perform tomorrow
03:30if they want to win the match. That's the key to the match. If they don't get England
03:36openers out, then there's no match there.
03:40Imran, just to add to what Ashraq said, Bangladesh proved a point. They played Afridi safely
03:49and then they didn't give wickets until, say, 12th over. They were actually, at one point
03:53of time, they were taking control of the match. As Ashraq rightly said, if Afridi doesn't
03:58strike, especially, like, forget about others, if Afridi doesn't strike early, then I think
04:04Pakistan will be on the back foot straight away.
04:06Yeah, absolutely.
04:07Shaham, where do you see this match being won and lost tomorrow?
04:11Yeah, I think it is a battle between England batting and Pakistan bowling. Like what Ashraq
04:19was saying, Pakistan's pace attack makes a difference. They have easily the best, what
04:24do you call it, the pace battery in the tournament. Four fast bowlers clocking over 140 kilometers
04:30per hour is awesome. Not just that, each of them are very different, which is what makes
04:35them very potent, because they have their own variations, they have their slower ball,
04:39they bowl the cutters. So they are quite a handful. So it's not like an Indian side which
04:44is packed with medium pacers. These are genuine quicks, which is where England batting will
04:49be put to the test. But having said that, England is used to playing this kind of pace.
04:53I mean, their own mark puts clocks over 150, so they are used to this kind of pace. But
04:58I think it is the pace bowlers of Pakistan will make a difference. And how England bat
05:05will negotiate them will make the difference. I have a still problem with England batting
05:10right now, because most of the runs, if you look at the tournament, have been scored by
05:14Joe Sputler and Alex Hales. And a couple of occasions when they have got out, the rest
05:19of the batting doesn't look convincing. They are awesome on paper, but they haven't really
05:25lived up to the potential. One match against, I think it was Sri Lanka, there was a wobble.
05:29And I think finally, you need the steady hand of Ben Stokes to steer them home. So
05:34it's a bit concerning there. If Pakistan can slice through the openers, I think we will be
05:40in for an enticing match. Ash, we've spoken about Babar Azim plenty of times before.
05:46In the group games, he only scored 39 runs in those five matches, but he showed how good he is.
05:51We all know he's a class batsman in the semifinals where he scored a half century. Has he hit form
05:56at the right time, do you think? Yeah, I think it's the right time. He got a little bit of luck
06:02and he is now a run machine again. And I hope and we bet on him that he will stay
06:10this time again against England, because that's the key for Pakistan to win.
06:15Though in the previous matches, even when he failed, the middle order didn't
06:20disappoint us. They are performing, Ibtakar, Shadab. And you get sensational Harris now,
06:28who is a fearless batsman. He can change the match and we are hoping that he will perform
06:35again. And you have Ibtakar, Shadab. So I think both Rizwan and Babar also got their form back
06:43and middle order is in good shape. So I don't see that Pakistan shouldn't be posting if they
06:51bat first 170 plus if it doesn't rain. It should be 170, 180 runs if they want to make a match out
06:58of it. I think we're all desperate for some clear skies tomorrow. There is some rain predicted.
07:03Hopefully, we will get 20 overs. Shyam, England are going to be without a couple of key men. I
07:08think you mentioned one already, but Mark Wood, the bowler, he's got a, I think he's got a hip
07:12injury at the moment. He's struggling. And Marlon's been out for the last games with a groin problem.
07:18They're both big players for England. We know that. How much of a missed will they be if they
07:22both miss tomorrow's games? Actually, yes, they will. Both of them will be missed badly because
07:30nobody, there's nobody in the England setup who can bowl at the extra space of Mark
07:35Woods. So actually, they are trying to get him ready for the final, which they're desperately
07:40trying to. But Marlon is completely out of the game. No doubt about that. But I think Marlon
07:45would have mattered. I previously said that Marlon wouldn't matter because they have amazing
07:50depth in the England batting. But in this particular game, against the four fearsome
07:56fast bowlers of Pakistan, I think you needed a batsman like Marlon to drop anchor at one inch
08:01because you now have only two. If the openers come off, then we have only two strokes to anchor them.
08:08And the rest of them are just more stroke players. So Marlon would have helped. So I think
08:14England is at a disadvantage there in the absence of Marlon. I don't know how much of
08:22Soltis replaced him, but he hasn't had a bat in this tournament at all.
08:25So we really don't know how he can, whether he will be able to fill that gap left by Marlon.
08:31And Satish, England's semi-final win was quite a surprise. But both those openers were firing
08:37with all cylinders. Do you think Butler and Hales can reproduce that partnership that we
08:41saw against India? Even if they could do half of it, that would be more than enough in the final
08:46run. Because it's going to be a very tough game. And even a 50-60-70-run quick runs partnership
08:55in the first seven, eight overs will turn the match around. But more importantly,
09:00if you look at England's positive, they have bowling variations. Like you have spinners,
09:06you have off spinners, you have leg spinners, you have left-arm players, you have a fearsome
09:11fast bowler, you have a swing bowler. So they have the variety to come back and surprise
09:16you. So it's going to be a pretty good thing altogether. But coming back to England's batting,
09:23yes, they have the depth. And if they get a good start, then they can build on it
09:28at a much higher rate than what the openers did against India.
09:34And final word for Ash. The similarities, Ash, between the last time Pakistan won the World Cup
09:39to this time they reached the final. It's identical, in fact. Lost the first two games,
09:46won the other games, beat New Zealand in the semi-final, then they're facing England in the
09:49final. Can it be Pakistan's time now again? It's a similarity, but let's be very clear,
10:00that was a 50-over game. That was a different ball game altogether. And this is a 20-over game.
10:05And they are under pressure because of this as well. I hope they won't be put under more pressure.
10:12I heard that Rameez Raja, who was part of 1992 World Cup squad, and he's now chairman of the
10:18board, he talked to the players today and he told them about the similarity, what happened in 1992
10:24and how did they manage. And I heard that there's like a positive vibe after his talk
10:30because he told them, don't get carried away that you have reached there. The similarity is there,
10:37you have reached there, but it doesn't mean that you will win the final as well. So he told them,
10:41don't be complacent and don't just get carried away with all this similarity type of hype.
10:47So they have to perform to win this.
10:50Yeah, wise words indeed.
10:53The difference is, that time there was one spell by Vasim Akram. If somebody can reproduce that
10:58kind of a spell, that'll be brilliant. That's what they say, tomorrow it should be Shaheen
11:05Afridi. Yeah, the same left arm. The difference is, this England team is far stronger than that
11:13other one. Yeah, that's true. And Vasim Akram was far superior bowler as well.
11:20Yes, absolutely.
11:22It's bound to be another thrilling game. Like we said, hopefully the rain doesn't
11:27cause any havoc. That's all from us for today. We'll be back tomorrow to discuss the final and
11:31see how it all went. In the meantime, please head to gulfnews.com for all the latest news and
11:35reviews. Also check us out on social media. Thanks to my guests and we'll see you again tomorrow.