England’s Ben Stokes (L) and Liam Livingstone celebrate their win in the ICC men’s Twenty20 World Cup 2022 cricket final match between England and Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on November 13, 2022 in Melbourne.
Sports Desk: Ben Stokes was the most devastated man when he conceded 24 in the final over against Carlos Brathwaite at iconic Eden Gardens of Kolkata to lose the T20 World Cup final.
Fast forward to six years, at the other end of the world, the southpaw reached the zenith of cricketing glory winning the same trophy for England beating Pakistan in the final of 2022 at another iconic place, Melbourne Cricket ground.
In between those six years the Englishman was instrumental for his side winning a ODI World Cup, their first ever, but the feat he achieved on Sunday sealed his legendary status forever.
From being the nadir of dejection to reach the top of the world may sound like a cliché sporting story but the one Stokes wrote is beyond doubt a glorious tale of modern epic that shall be retold to generations to come.
And on the day, cricket went such a high that even the scorecard of a World Cup final became mundane. However, for the record, it should be stated England won the match by five wickets sparing six balls.
Stokes, the man, the myth, the legend played the winning shot to remain not on 52 off 49. Chasing the moderate score of 137, England faced the music of Pakistani bowling to be reduced to 45-3 in six overs.
On that tricky turf Stokes kept his nerve cool and despite some fiery bowling and inspired fielding from Pakistan navigated his side home. Harry Brook and Moeen Ali chipped in with 20 and 19 respectively to keep the run chase on the track. England captain Jos Buttler scored 26 opening the batting.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan posted a subpar 137-8 after losing the toss. Shan Masood scored highest 38 while Babar Azam made 32. Sam Curran was the pick of the bowlers picking 3-12 bowling four overs while Adil Rashid returned with 2-22.
