Fortune did not favour Pakistan today; disappointed people across the country watched our team lose to England in the T20 World Cup Final in a five-wicket victory. England is now the first team to hold both white ball World Cups. Pakistan performed exceedingly well against New Zealand earlier in the series, where Mohammed Rizwan and Babar Azam’s batting partnership cleared the way for a decisive victory. This team spirit was missing from the field today. The match started with a confident England choosing to bowl; the men in green could not bear up against England’s disciplined and precise bowling. Wickets began to drop, one after the other. Sam Curran, England’s star player this season, took an incredible three wickets for just 12 runs across four-boundary-less overs, restricting Pakistan to a meek 137 runs. Things began to look up when Babar Azam entered the field, leading Pakistan to a noble 68-2 before being taken out by England’s Adil Rashid’s suave leg-spin, a crucial wicket that deflated morale and set the tone for England’s eventual victory. Any remaining hopes for a comeback were quickly squandered when Iftikhar Ahmed was taken out after only six balls, scoring a mere two runs. Despite a lacklustre batting performance that appeared to have sealed the team’s fate, our boys put up a valiant fight with their bowling. Pakistan’s star pacers Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf kept England on their toes, picking up wickets with determination, despite only 137 runs to defend. But the momentum was short-lived; an untimely injury to Afridi became the definitive turning point of the game, emboldening the English to start hitting fours and sixes immediately after his exit from the field. After Afridi limped off the field, it was only a matter of time before England reached their 138-run target. At 18 overs, England only needed seven runs off 12 balls to win the game, which ended with Ben Stokes batting his team to victory. Of course, this wasn’t the outcome Pakistani fans had hoped for, but our boys played with far more poise than expected and if it wasn’t for Afridi’s critical injury at sixteen overs, things might have turned out differently. Regardless, the World Cup is always an exciting time for the country, and England certainly played a good game. Here’s to better luck, next time. *