T20 World Cup final: Pakistan post 137-8 against England

Agencies | Sydney

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Former West Indian fast bowler and now turned commentator Ian Bishop said that there was some grass on the surface which should aid the pace attack of both the sides.

"There are some nice dry grass areas on the surface. But there are green patches as well. It's very very hard. Want to use the short ball. It swung more in the poweplay here than in any other ground.

The kind of bowlers we have today — Shaheen (Shah Afridi), (Ben) Stokes, (Chris) Woakes — stick to your strengths," Bishop said in his pitch report.

"Perfect setting for the final. Hopefully, the rain will stay away. We have got a decent pitch here and also it's at the centre in terms of dimension.

Bowling from the members end the leg-side hit is 75m and the off-side boundary is 81m and that's why the seamers bang it short here with those big boundaries.

The new ball does swing here. You want to pitch it up and get it to swing here," says former England captain Nasser Hussain.

Rain was widely forecast but had yet to arrive with a minimum of 10 overs per side needed to constitute a game, compared to five during the group stages.

If the match starts but cannot be finished, it will resume on Monday from where it was halted.

England, the 50-over World Cup champions, are looking to add to their sole T20 crown in 2010.

Pakistan are also searching for a second T20 title after winning the tournament in 2009.

Teams:

Pakistan: Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

England: Jos Buttler (C) (wk), Alex Hales, Philip Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid.