Melbourne is the venue for the final the T20 World Cup on Sunday when Pakistan clash with England and the English start as the bookmakers favourites.
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
Pakistan v England, MCG
Pakistan took on New Zealand in the first semi final which was staged at Sydney on Wednesday and they came out on top by 7 wickets. They lost the toss and were invited to bowl first and they restricted the Black Caps to 152/4 (Afridi 2/24). Opening pair Rizwan (57) and Babar Azam (53) put on 105 for the first wicket and 30 more from Mohammad Haris helped get them home in 19.1 overs.
Pakistan lost their first 2 matches in the Super 12's, going down to India by 4 wickets in a thrilling finish at the MCG and then losing to Zimbabwe by 1 run in Perth and at that stage a semi final place looked highly unlikely.
They put themselves on the board with a 6 wicket win over the Netherlands in Perth and then beat South Africa by 33 runs (DLS). Heading into the final round of matches Pakistan still looked to have too much to do but South Africa fluffed their lines against the Netherlands and Pakistan pounced with a 5 wicket win over Bangladesh in Adelaide to snatch second spot as runners up to India.
This is how Pakistan lined up last time out.
Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
The betting for England's semi final clash with India in Adelaide on Thursday suggested a close game but England came through with a 10 wicket victory. They won the toss and opted to bowl first and India posted 168/6 with Chris Jordan claiming 3 of the wickets. Buttler (80) and Hales (86) needed just 16 overs to take England home for an emphatic victory.
England cut things fine in a tight S12 group, finishing behind NZ but ahead of Australia on net run rate after all 3 teams ended with a record of 3 wins, 1 defeat and 1 no result. They started their tournament with a 5 wicket win over Afghanistan in Perth and despite being overwhelming favourites for their game against Ireland they lost by 5 runs (DLS). Their clash with Australia was washed out leaving no margin for error in their remaining matches which delivered
a 20 run victory over New Zealand in Brisbane and a 4 wicket win over Sri Lanka in Sydney.
This was how England lined up last time out.
Jos Buttler (c & wk), Alex Hales, Philip Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid
Head to Head
The teams have met 28 times in this format with Pakistan winning 9 and England have won 17 with 1 tie and 1 no result.
A 7 match series staged in Pakistan in September / October this year this year finished 4-3 in England's favour.
The Betting
Pakistan are currently trading at around 5/4 to win the game and England can be backed at around 0.57/1
Rizwan is 5/2 to top score for Pakistan and Babar Azam is 11/4.
Buttler is 11/4 to top score for England with Hales at 3/1
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
Three of the S12 matches at the MCG were completely washed out so there isn't that much in the way of venue form to work with.
Both sets of openers were on fire in the respective semi finals so the bowlers will have to be on their game. Although England might have a touch more overall depth in that department Shaheen Afridi is the in form man for Pakistan and he gets the vote to be their top wicket taker.
I fancy England to get the job done and we will end with a speculative Man of the Match pick where the dart is aimed at Liam Livingstone.
Bets: Top Pakistan Wicket Taker Shaheen Afridi at 3/1 with Sportingbet
Man of the Match Liam Livingstone at 12/1 with Sportingbet
Risk Free First Bet Up to R2,000 back if you don't win
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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