MELBOURNE: England beat Pakistan by five wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday to win their second Twenty20 World Cup title and burnish their claim as the pre-eminent superpower in white ball cricket.
Thirty years after losing the 50-over World Cup final to Pakistan at the MCG, England turned the tables on the south Asians with brilliant death bowling and a Ben Stokes half-century that reeled in a modest victory target of 138.
With all-rounder Sam Curran recording a miserly 3-12, Pakistan collapsed in the final overs to finish on 137 for eight after being sent in to bat by England captain Jos Buttler.
The heavy rain forecast never hit the MCG as England, led by the unflappable Stokes, reeled in the total with six balls to spare.
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid did the early damage for England with two wickets, including the key scalp of captain Babar Azam for 32, before Pakistan crumbled in the final overs, losing 4-10.
Sealing their second T20 World Cup, England are now the first nation to hold both global white-ball trophies, having won the 50-over World Cup on home soil in 2019.
England claim T20 World Cup with five-wicket win over Pakistan
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England claim T20 World Cup with five-wicket win over Pakistan
- England turn tables on the south Asians with brilliant death bowling and a Ben Stokes half-century
Undav scores again as Stuttgart sink Frankfurt to go third
- A dipping header from Rasmus Kristensen gave Frankfurt an early lead
- The victory took the German Cup holders to third, a point behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund
BERLIN: Nikolas Nartey nabbed a late winner and Deniz Undav continued his hot form as Stuttgart beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 at home on Tuesday to climb to third in the Bundesliga.
A dipping header from Rasmus Kristensen gave Frankfurt an early lead but Ermedin Demirovic pounced on a goalkeeping error and Undav’s deflected effort helped Stuttgart wrestle back control of the match before half-time.
Bundesliga debutant Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab brought Frankfurt level but Nartey’s 87th-minute strike, his first Bundesliga goal, put the hosts back in front.
The victory took the German Cup holders to third, a point behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund, who cruised to a 3-0 victory over Werder Bremen stretching their unbeaten run to 10 league games.
Frankfurt have struggled this season after last campaign’s third-placed finish, their best result in three decades.
Kristensen connected with a corner to put his side in front after five minutes, but Frankfurt ushered Stuttgart back into the game when goalkeeper Kaua Santos spilled a routine catch, allowing Demirovic to slice home.
Undav put his side in front 10 minutes before the break, wrong-footing the Frankfurt defense and blasting a low shot which took a thick deflection into the bottom corner.
Undav, who has nine goals and two assists in his past eight league games, forced two desperation saves from Santos and flashed just wide of the post in the second half.
Amaimouni-Echghouyab levelled things up just three minutes after coming on but his effort was bested by another debut goal minutes later, when Nartey tapped in from close range.
Elsewhere, the match between Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen was postponed just two hours before kick-off, the third Bundesliga game canceled in the space of a week due to wild winter weather across northern Germany.
