England’s T20 World Cup winning story: Ireland heartbreak, India’s decimation, and final triumph

If the 2022 T20 World Cup was scripted as a big-screen multi-movie saga, it would have definitely competed and probably overtaken the MCU or the Harry Potter series. The players and teams would have been nominated for a few Oscar awards.

Fortunately, it wasn’t. But if it was, England and Pakistan would have won the most dramatic teams awards. Pakistan had no chance to qualify for the semi-finals, but somehow managed to play the finals, and lost it from a very short distance.

England, on the contrary, were one of the top favourites at the start of the tournament, but probably tried to induce opposition into their bait until the first few games of the group stage.

This England team had no business competing with Australia and New Zealand in the league stage and should have ideally finished top of the group. But they managed to create the drama and toyed along until they faced India in the semi-final.

We take a look at different phases that England passed through in the tournament.

Shaky start in the league stage

England had a nervy start in the group stage. They bundled out Afghanistan for 112 in their opening game. With the might of England’s batting, they were expected to chase the total down in 10 -12 overs but took 18 overs and a ball to chase the target. They also lost five wickets on the way.

England who had humiliated Australia in a three-match series just before the T20 World Cup seemed to have lost the plot in the big tournament.

If you think this was bad, they lost their next match to Ireland by five runs. Though rain and DLS played their part in the outcome, it was an absurd condition for England to be five runs behind the DLS par score with five wickets down, when the calling came. England’s irony with their neighbours continued.

The rain gods were definitely not on England’s side. After losing to Ireland, their third match against Australia – one of the most anticipated of the tournament – was washed out without a ball being bowled.

With some other matches in their group as well being washed out, England’s qualification chances had narrowed down.

Recovery against New Zealand and Sri Lanka

England, however, made sure to recover from the slump and stand tall again. They first had to beat table toppers and strong-looking New Zealand.

The Kiwis were looking a formidable side after defeating Australia and Sri Lanka. But the Three Lions roared all at once to remove the fighting power out of the Kiwis.

The English openers had finally come to the fore. And after posting a healthy 179 on board, their bowling led by Sam Curran restricted New Zealand 21 runs short of the target.

By the time they had to play their last match against the Lankan Lions, the group had settled down with all its suspense, and the only requirement for England was to beat Sri Lanka to qualify for the semi-finals. Which they did, although making the situation tense once again. The openers continued to fire at the top and Ben Stokes announced his arrival in crucial situations.

India’s decimation in the semi-final

Matches involving India are always hyped. And this one was specifically hyped because an Indian win would have set up a blockbuster climax – India vs Pakistan – to the already accolade-winning World Cup tourney.

But Jos Buttler had already clarified that they will try to not let such a final happen. And he actually didn’t, to the dismay of all the cricket fans except their own.

The mighty Indians were restricted to 168 after putting them to bat first. Experts and fans thought the chase will be interesting if Indian bowlers start well. But it wasn’t to be.

Jos Buttler and Alex Hales showed their might and humiliated the Indian bowlers, chasing the target in 16 overs. They didn’t lose their wickets either, winning the game by 10 wickets.

The thrilling final against Pakistan

So after all the drama, England were to face a more dramatic Pakistan in the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup. England would look strong on paper, but no team is a favourite against Pakistan.

But England stood to their name and their heavily effective bowling attack restricted Pakistan to a below-par total of 137.

The chase was expected to be simple, but the drama that the World Cup had been, and with the two most dramatic teams competing, it would have been unfair if the match ended in 15 overs of the second innings.

So the Pakistan bowlers fought back hard and didn’t let England cruise to the target. But in an anti-climactic situation, their prime bowler Shaheen Afridi had to leave the field with an injury in the leg, after bowling one ball of the 16^th over.

Stokes smashed Iftikhar Ahmed for 13 runs in the remaining five balls, and the trophy had started to slip towards England. 18 deliveries later, Stokes hit the winning runs to end the drama for one last time and seal their second T20 World Cup win.

England are now the undisputed white-ball champions after winning the 2019 ODI World Cup.

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