Ben Stokes stars again as England beat Pakistan by 5 wickets to clinch 2nd T20 World Cup

If it is a World cup final, Ben Stokes is your man. After being the star of England's 2019 Cricket World Cup triumph on home soil, Stokes once again stepped up to the occasion by scoring a half-century and helping the Jos Buttler-led side lift the T20 World cup trophy for the second time in history with a five-wicket win over Pakistan. England have become the first team in history to hold both the 50 and 20-over World Cup trophy at the same time.

England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and stuck to the tried and tested plan of bowling first from the semi-final. Pakistan made a slow start to the game as Mohammad Rizwan was dismissed for a score of 15 in 14 balls. Mohammad Harris did not have a day to remember and departed early.

Adil Rashid continued his brilliant form and bowled a remarkable spell that saw him take two wickets for just 22 runs which included the big wicket of Babar Azam with an extraordinary catch on his bowling after bamboozling the Pakistan skipper with a googly.

Sam Curran continued to be England's go-to man with the ball and finished with sensational figures of three wickets for 12 runs in his four-over spell. Shan Masood was Pakistan's highest run-scorer with a knock of 38 in 28 balls. Chris Jordan also scalped two wickets in the slog overs as the Men in Green struggled to get a big finish. They managed a total of just 137 on the board.

Shaheen Afridi gave Pakistan a brilliant start by dismissing Alex Hales in the first over. Haris Rauf put a huge dent on the 2010 champions' chase by dismissing both Phil Salt and skipper Jos Buttler in the powerplay. Shadab Khan bowled another fine spell which produced the dismissal of Harry Brook.

The Men in Green did a formidable job in putting pressure on England and with the pair Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali struggling to get a move on. However, an injury to Pakistan's ace pacer Shaheen changed the complexion of the game as Babar was forced to turn to the part-time spin of Ifthikar Ahmed. Stokes capitalized on the spin on offer and England did not look back from there.

While Wasim did produce the wicket of Moeen in the 19th over, it was a consolation prize as Stokes completed his half-century to seal England's wicket and crown them as the T20 World Cup champions.