England’s golden generation of white ball cricketers overcame a spirited Pakistan to lift the T20 World Cup trophy with a comfortable five-wicket victory here on Sunday.

The Pakistani fans were longing for an encore of 1992 when Imran Khan’s team created history at this very venue, but batting let Babar Azam’s side down as 137 for 8 was never going to be good enough.

The seasoned Ben Stokes (52 not out off 49 balls) just like the 2019 ODI World Cup, anchored the chase despite occasional scratchiness and had a calm Moeen Ali (19) as an ideal foil.

They chased down the target in 19 overs to regain the title they had won in 2010 in the West Indies.

Experienced Haris Rauf and young Nasim Shah bowled their hearts out to prevent it from becoming a one-sided game but Stokes soaked the pressure along with Ali as the duo put on a 48-run stand for the fifth wicket to nail the win that avenged England’s loss to the same rivals in the ’92 World Cup final.

Shaheen Shah Afridi also could not bowl his full quota of overs after suffering a hamstring injury while fielding and that too helped England.

But player of the evening certainly was left-arm seamer Sam Curran, whose couple of spells had heavily tilted the game in the favour England.

A champion T20 player in his own right, Buttler in the past few months, has proved to be a leader of men and in fact put Pakistan under immense pressure with his heart-warming humility.

The MCG rooted for Pakistan but no one grudged when Stokes pumped his fists after what had been an incredibly difficult few years, battling depression and mental health issues.

Player of the #T20WorldCupFinal 💪

13 wickets at an average of 11.38 in the tournament 🤩

Sam Curran is the Player of the Tournament for his stellar performances 😍#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/LiGIpJKhyd

— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) November 13, 2022

Sam Curran was also named the player of the tournament following his team’s five wicket win over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup final here on Sunday.

Curran, who made a comeback from injury earlier this year, was also the player of the match for his remarkable figures of three for 12 in four overs in the summit clash. He ended the tournament with 13 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 6.52 runs per over.

“MCG has big square boundaries, so I knew my into the wicket type bowling would work and try to make them hit square of the wicket. We felt the wicket was not as good as we thought it would be.

“It was nipping around everywhere and it was challenge to chase. I go into the wicket with my slower balls and try to keep the batsmen guessing,” Curran said after the game.

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England had restricted Pakistan to 137 for eight in 20 overs. Ben Stokes then scored an unbeaten 52 off 49 balls to help England lift their second T20 World Cup title.

“We are World Champions, how good. Incredibly special (to have Stokes). He is someone I look up to and always turns up when the team needs him, people question him but there’s no questioning him, he’s the man,” said Curran.

“To be honest, I am little bit lost for words, it has been a great tournament. First time for me in a World Cup and we have won it.

“I wanted to be adaptable coming into the tournament. I haven’t bowled much at the death before and that is one area I want to keep improving. I want to improve my batting though it is tough to get to bat in this line-up,” said the left hander when asked about the road ahead.