Ben Stokes leads England to T20 World Cup glory against Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground

England beat Pakistan by five wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to win the Men’s T20 World Cup for a second time.

After chasing 138 in front of a Pakistan-supporting crowd, they fell to 45-3 and 84-4 due to fast bowling.

Ben Stokes steered England home – scoring the winning run – by ending on 52 not out.

The English cricketer capitalised on an unfortunate injury to Pakistan left-armer Shaheen Afridi, who limped off the field after bowling Alex Hales in England’s first over, and took England to victory with six balls to spare.

“In finals, especially chasing, you forget all the hard work before that,” Stokes said after the victory.

“I thought the way we bowled for our whole innings – Sam Curran and Adil Rashid – was what won us the game.

“That was a tricky wicket, it was one you never felt you were in on, and there was a bit of bounce. To restrict them to 137, the bowlers have to take a lot of credit for that.”

Sam Curran was honoured with the man of the match award for his 3-12 with the ball, but he humbly admitted that one of his teammates should have been on the receiving end of the prize instead.

“I don’t think I should be getting this. I think the way Stokesy played there, to get a 50 in the final, he has done it so many times for us!”

The win means that England become the first team to hold the men’s 20 and 50-over world titles.

“This is one of the best days of my cricketing career,” exclaimed Moeen Ali.

“I feel as a team, we deserved it. Over a long time, we’ve played some amazing cricket and then to win today against a brilliant Pakistan side is an amazing feeling.”

Adil Rashid said: “I’m so proud of boys and so proud of everyone here.

“It shows from the position we were in early in the tournament to now that things can change. We had that self-belief and we came all the way.

“Everybody was nervous, but we knew we had all the firepower to get over the line. Thankfully we did!”

England will stay in Australia to play a three-match one-day international series against Australia.

They will then travel to Pakistan for a three-match Test series, their first red-ball tour of the country since 2005.