00:00Hello and welcome to Golf News straight back. So, after a month and 44 games, it all comes
00:12down to this. It's England against Pakistan in the final of the T20 World Cup to be held
00:18at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. There's going to be well over 100,000 fans packed inside
00:23that old famous stadium for what's bound to be a cracker of a cricket match. It's safe
00:28to say that the Pakistan against England prediction probably wasn't on anyone's minds
00:33this time last week. After Pakistan lost the opening two games of the tournament, they
00:37somehow managed to get to the semi-finals. England didn't look very convincing in their
00:41group stages, but in the semi-finals, both the two teams, they turned on the style delivering
00:46comprehensive wins, which now sees them face off for the titles. It's going to be a great
00:51game. I'm joined by Shyam, Satish and Ashfaq to talk about the match. Starting with Shyam,
00:57it's set to be a tantalising final, isn't it?
01:00I think it'll be an explosive final. But the caveat there is there's a huge rain threat,
01:0692% possibility of rain. And the good thing about the final is they have a reserve day,
01:12which will allow the raindrop part of the game to be played the next day. But the damper
01:19there again is the reserve day is also under rain threat. But let's assume that the rain
01:25will stay away and the match will go on. I think it is only fair that we should have
01:29a very good match in the sense like, having such a fantastic tournament with so many upsets
01:34and so many very close finishes, I think we need an explosive finish. And England and
01:39Pakistan can provide that tomorrow.
01:41Satish, would you say that England are the favourites after the way they absolutely thrashed
01:46India in the semi-final?
01:47Yes, Imran, England were the favourites probably even before the start of the tournament. They
01:52are probably the best team in terms of the personnel, the depth, the variety in the team.
02:00So they started as favourites, excepting a blip against Ireland, I think they by and
02:06large played to their potential. So I would say England are certainly a big favourite
02:12in tomorrow's game. Of course, with Pakistan, you can't say anything. They can come up and
02:18do something unimaginable. They will come back and do the impossible with ease. So it's
02:26going to be a good final. But I would say England played to their potential and they
02:31are there in their rightful place in the final.
02:34Ash, do you think Shaheen Shah, Freedy, Adko can limit England's dangerous batsmen? Or
02:41are you worried after the way you saw them play against India and just tear them apart?
02:48Thank you, Imran. See, Pakistan's pace attack will make the difference. Otherwise, there's
02:55no chance. If Shaheen Shah, Freedy and company, Wasim and Naseem and Haris Rao, if they strike
03:03in the power play and they get some wickets, that's the key. If they manage to pass through
03:07the power play, then it's going to be a very tough game. Because the difference between
03:12both the teams, Pakistan, I would say, honestly, is entering the match slightly underdog compared
03:20to the Indian side. But Pakistan has a huge advantage of a spalling attack, which has
03:24been the best in the tournament. And Shaheen Shah, Freedy will have to perform tomorrow
03:30if they want to win the match. That's the key to the match. If they don't get England
03:36openers out, then there's no match there.
03:40Imran, just to add to what Ashraq said, Bangladesh proved a point. They played Afridi safely
03:49and then they didn't give wickets until, say, 12th over. They were actually, at one point
03:53of time, they were taking control of the match. As Ashraq rightly said, if Afridi doesn't
03:58strike, especially, like, forget about others, if Afridi doesn't strike early, then I think
04:04Pakistan will be on the back foot straight away.
04:06Yeah, absolutely.
04:07Shaham, where do you see this match being won and lost tomorrow?
04:11Yeah, I think it is a battle between England batting and Pakistan bowling. Like what Ashraq
04:19was saying, Pakistan's pace attack makes a difference. They have easily the best, what
04:24do you call it, the pace battery in the tournament. Four fast bowlers clocking over 140 kilometers
04:30per hour is awesome. Not just that, each of them are very different, which is what makes
04:35them very potent, because they have their own variations, they have their slower ball,
04:39they bowl the cutters. So they are quite a handful. So it's not like an Indian side which
04:44is packed with medium pacers. These are genuine quicks, which is where England batting will
04:49be put to the test. But having said that, England is used to playing this kind of pace.
04:53I mean, their own mark puts clocks over 150, so they are used to this kind of pace. But
04:58I think it is the pace bowlers of Pakistan will make a difference. And how England bat
05:05will negotiate them will make the difference. I have a still problem with England batting
05:10right now, because most of the runs, if you look at the tournament, have been scored by
05:14Joe Sputler and Alex Hales. And a couple of occasions when they have got out, the rest
05:19of the batting doesn't look convincing. They are awesome on paper, but they haven't really
05:25lived up to the potential. One match against, I think it was Sri Lanka, there was a wobble.
05:29And I think finally, you need the steady hand of Ben Stokes to steer them home. So
05:34it's a bit concerning there. If Pakistan can slice through the openers, I think we will be
05:40in for an enticing match. Ash, we've spoken about Babar Azim plenty of times before.
05:46In the group games, he only scored 39 runs in those five matches, but he showed how good he is.
05:51We all know he's a class batsman in the semifinals where he scored a half century. Has he hit form
05:56at the right time, do you think? Yeah, I think it's the right time. He got a little bit of luck
06:02and he is now a run machine again. And I hope and we bet on him that he will stay
06:10this time again against England, because that's the key for Pakistan to win.
06:15Though in the previous matches, even when he failed, the middle order didn't
06:20disappoint us. They are performing, Ibtakar, Shadab. And you get sensational Harris now,
06:28who is a fearless batsman. He can change the match and we are hoping that he will perform
06:35again. And you have Ibtakar, Shadab. So I think both Rizwan and Babar also got their form back
06:43and middle order is in good shape. So I don't see that Pakistan shouldn't be posting if they
06:51bat first 170 plus if it doesn't rain. It should be 170, 180 runs if they want to make a match out
06:58of it. I think we're all desperate for some clear skies tomorrow. There is some rain predicted.
07:03Hopefully, we will get 20 overs. Shyam, England are going to be without a couple of key men. I
07:08think you mentioned one already, but Mark Wood, the bowler, he's got a, I think he's got a hip
07:12injury at the moment. He's struggling. And Marlon's been out for the last games with a groin problem.
07:18They're both big players for England. We know that. How much of a missed will they be if they
07:22both miss tomorrow's games? Actually, yes, they will. Both of them will be missed badly because
07:30nobody, there's nobody in the England setup who can bowl at the extra space of Mark
07:35Woods. So actually, they are trying to get him ready for the final, which they're desperately
07:40trying to. But Marlon is completely out of the game. No doubt about that. But I think Marlon
07:45would have mattered. I previously said that Marlon wouldn't matter because they have amazing
07:50depth in the England batting. But in this particular game, against the four fearsome
07:56fast bowlers of Pakistan, I think you needed a batsman like Marlon to drop anchor at one inch
08:01because you now have only two. If the openers come off, then we have only two strokes to anchor them.
08:08And the rest of them are just more stroke players. So Marlon would have helped. So I think
08:14England is at a disadvantage there in the absence of Marlon. I don't know how much of
08:22Soltis replaced him, but he hasn't had a bat in this tournament at all.
08:25So we really don't know how he can, whether he will be able to fill that gap left by Marlon.
08:31And Satish, England's semi-final win was quite a surprise. But both those openers were firing
08:37with all cylinders. Do you think Butler and Hales can reproduce that partnership that we
08:41saw against India? Even if they could do half of it, that would be more than enough in the final
08:46run. Because it's going to be a very tough game. And even a 50-60-70-run quick runs partnership
08:55in the first seven, eight overs will turn the match around. But more importantly,
09:00if you look at England's positive, they have bowling variations. Like you have spinners,
09:06you have off spinners, you have leg spinners, you have left-arm players, you have a fearsome
09:11fast bowler, you have a swing bowler. So they have the variety to come back and surprise
09:16you. So it's going to be a pretty good thing altogether. But coming back to England's batting,
09:23yes, they have the depth. And if they get a good start, then they can build on it
09:28at a much higher rate than what the openers did against India.
09:34And final word for Ash. The similarities, Ash, between the last time Pakistan won the World Cup
09:39to this time they reached the final. It's identical, in fact. Lost the first two games,
09:46won the other games, beat New Zealand in the semi-final, then they're facing England in the
09:49final. Can it be Pakistan's time now again? It's a similarity, but let's be very clear,
10:00that was a 50-over game. That was a different ball game altogether. And this is a 20-over game.
10:05And they are under pressure because of this as well. I hope they won't be put under more pressure.
10:12I heard that Rameez Raja, who was part of 1992 World Cup squad, and he's now chairman of the
10:18board, he talked to the players today and he told them about the similarity, what happened in 1992
10:24and how did they manage. And I heard that there's like a positive vibe after his talk
10:30because he told them, don't get carried away that you have reached there. The similarity is there,
10:37you have reached there, but it doesn't mean that you will win the final as well. So he told them,
10:41don't be complacent and don't just get carried away with all this similarity type of hype.
10:47So they have to perform to win this.
10:50Yeah, wise words indeed.
10:53The difference is, that time there was one spell by Vasim Akram. If somebody can reproduce that
10:58kind of a spell, that'll be brilliant. That's what they say, tomorrow it should be Shaheen
11:05Afridi. Yeah, the same left arm. The difference is, this England team is far stronger than that
11:13other one. Yeah, that's true. And Vasim Akram was far superior bowler as well.
11:20Yes, absolutely.
11:22It's bound to be another thrilling game. Like we said, hopefully the rain doesn't
11:27cause any havoc. That's all from us for today. We'll be back tomorrow to discuss the final and
11:31see how it all went. In the meantime, please head to gulfnews.com for all the latest news and
11:35reviews. Also check us out on social media. Thanks to my guests and we'll see you again tomorrow.
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