England and Pakistan clash in the T20 World Cup Final in Melbourne on Sunday and we take a look at the game from a betting angle.
PAKISTAN
Pakistan scraped into the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup when they beat Bangladesh in their final game and South Africa lost to Netherlands.
The team must have already had their bags packed to fly home and they grasped their opportunity in the semi-finals with both hands. Their opponents New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat and the Pakistan bowlers managed to keep them in check throughout the innings. New Zealand were restricted to 152 for 4 in 20 overs and Shaheen Afridi with his 2 for 24 in 4 overs was the pick of the bowlers, but he was ably supported by the rest of the attack.
Pakistan then chased the score down getting the winning runs in the final over, but they had 7 wickets in hand and it was a comfortable victory in the end. Mohammad Rizwan top scored with 57 off 43, but there was also a welcome return to form for Babar Azam who got 53 off 42 balls.
In the other matches in the Super 12 section they had lost to India by 4 wickets and Zimbabwe by 1 run before beating the Netherlands by 6 wickets and South Africa by 33 runs.
ENGLAND
England then finished 2nd in Group 1 behind New Zealand, level on points with Australia, but going through on a superior net run rate. They started marginal underdogs against India in their semi-final and when they won the toss they had no hesitation in sending India in to bat.
India never really got going, but they managed to get their way to a 168 for 6 off their 20 overs. Chris Jordan with 3 for 43 off 4 overs was the pick of the bowlers, but there was also a really very good economical spell from Adil Rashid with 1 for 20 off 4.
England started their chase like they wanted to get it done quickly and they did exactly that incredibly not losing a wicket as they reached 170 in 16 overs for a 10 wicket victory. Alex Hales scored 86 off 47 balls and there was 80 not out from Jos Buttler off 49 balls.
England had opened their campaign with a 5 wicket win over Afghanistan before losing by 5 runs to Ireland in a rain shortened match. Their game against Australia was abandoned and the big match for England was the 20 run defeat of New Zealand before they secured their spot in the last 4 with a 4 wicket victory over Sri Lanka.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
These sides have met 28 times in T20 cricket with England winning 18 and Pakistan 9.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Pakistan 27/20
England 8/13
Suggested Bet: Pakistan win at 27/20
I can understand why England are favourites here given their performance in the semi-finals, but Pakistan are a side that can be very difficult to play on their day and they seem to have a bowling attack that is firing well and for me the return to form of Babar Azam could be a massive factor. Had the betting been the other way round I probably would have backed England, but at this price I think Pakistan are the value.
Suggested Bet: Pakistan Top Bowler, Shaheen Afridi at 5/2
This guy has been incredible in the World Cup and he is so difficult to play against early on. I am looking for another solid potentially match winning performance from the opening bowler.
Suggested Bet: Top England Batter, Alex Hales at 21/10
Both openers are very short in this market in the T20 format because there is no guarantee that the guys down the order are going to get a long bat and I just fancy that Hales offers a bit better value than Buttler who is priced at 16/10.
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
