England will take on Pakistan in the final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup at the MCG in Melbourne on November 13. Here, we take a look at the plans England will need to execute to perfection to win.
Negate Pakistan's new ball attack
Pakistan's success in the matches after losing their opening encounters to India and Zimbabwe is largely dependent on the starts given by their new ball attack. Among all the teams that have played in this T20 World Cup, Pakistan have the second best Powerplay economy rate (6.19) and average of (18.58).
They have also picked up the third most number of Powerplay wickets (12) during the course of the tournament and that's why England will need to go unscathed in this phase in order to get to a commanding position in the match. Instead of trying to take on the Pakistan bowlers, Alex Hales and Jos Buttler should focus on their wicket preservation for a change while going at a steady scoring rate.
Bat Pakistan out of the contest
Everyone saw what England did to India in the semi-final. They completely batted the Asian giants out of contention to knock them out of the competition, and that's exactly what they need to do against Pakistan as well.
The English bowling unit has performed better than expectations in this tournament but they can't match the quality and threat posed by Pakistan's bowling attack. So, they must try to dominate Pakistan with their strength, which is their batting. England have a batting line-up that runs deep until number 10 and they should try to take on the Pakistani bowlers, only after seeing off their new ball spell.
Get rid of Babar and Rizwan early
England haven't been able to put pressure on their opposition with the new ball in this tournament. Their Powerplay bowling average and strike-rate of 37.67 and 30 are the third worst among all teams in this T20 World Cup, which means they haven't been able to pick up as many wickets as they would have liked.
But they need to step up in this contest if they want to help their team to claim the title. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan's partnerships at the top of the order have been pivotal to Pakistan's success in T20Is over the last couple of years and England will need to get rid of at least one of them early in the innings to get a firm grip on the match.