The T20 World Cup finalists, England and Pakistan, have peaked at the right time in the tournament.
Pakistan were all but eliminated from the World Cup following their loss to Zimbabwe but comprehensive wins in their remaining three group games, coupled with a helping hand from the Netherlands, secured their passage to the semis where they routed New Zealand.
England’s route to the semi-finals was not as dramatic. But there was a sense that they had not quite hit their stride in the tournament. All those concerns were alleviated in the semi-final where they decimated the much-fancied Indians by 10 wickets.
Before the final in Melbourne, here’s how the two sides stack up in numbers:
28: That is how many times these two sides have faced off in T20Is.
18: England has won 18 of these while Pakistan has won nine.
12: Between the 50-over and 20-over world cups, Pakistan and England have played each other 12 times, with the latter holding a 6-5 edge.
0: Pakistan has played England twice before in the T20 World Cup but has yet to defeat them.
1: This is the first time the two teams will be playing each other in the knockout stages of the WT20.
3: England has won three of the last five T20I games between the two teams.
The last time Pakistan and England met in the final of an ICC trophy 🏆 pic.twitter.com/WF8e8HcPGX
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 12, 2022
0: Both these two teams are yet to win a game at the MCG in this year’s World Cup. Pakistan were beaten by India while Ireland stunned England.
560: Pakistan captain Babar Azam has scored 560 runs against England in T20s. No player from either team has scored more.
17: England’s Graeme Swann and Adil Rashid are the joint highest wicket-takers in England-Pakistan T20 matches with 17 wickets.
14: Haris Rauf is the highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in this fixture with 14 wickets.
216.18: That is Liam Livingstone’s strike rate across three matches against Pakistan.
