England: the ‘undisputed kings’ of white-ball cricket – ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final

England have become the first men’s team in cricket history to hold both the 50-over and 20-over World Cups simultaneously. Winners of the one-day tournament in 2019, they added the Twenty20 World Cup to their trophy cabinet following a five-wicket victory over Pakistan in Melbourne. 

In a “pulsating final” on Sunday, Jos Buttler’s England side were set a chase of 138 runs in front of a “raucous Pakistan-supporting crowd” at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, said Matthew Henry on BBC Sport. And like the 2019 final, Ben Stokes “was there at the end” as he scored 52 not out to write himself “further into the folklore” of English cricket.

“Strapping his team-mates to his broad shoulders”, Stokes carried his country to another World Cup triumph, said Andrew Wu in The Sydney Morning Herald. A “laughing stock in 2015”, when they crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage, England are now the “undisputed kings” of white-ball cricket. 

Redemption for Stokes 

Playing an “instrumental” role in two World Cup finals, all-rounder Stokes is “a champion under pressure”, said former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out show. Scoring his first T20 international half-century, the 31-year-old is “forging a career where he is there at key moments”. Stokes is “a big presence”, “a big personality” and he’s “a big winner”, Fleming added. “And that’s pretty key ingredients when you talk about a good to great player.”

An “irredeemable drama magnet”, England’s Test team captain is a man who “always manages to crowbar his way into a big occasion”, said Simon Burnton in The Guardian. However, back in the 2016 T20 World Cup final it was Stokes who bowled the “catastrophic final over that cost his side the title” against the West Indies. Six years later, it was “redemption” for Stokes as England got their hands on the T20 World Cup for a second time. 

Buttler is building his ‘own legacy’ 

This group of white-ball players are “extraordinary”, said former England Test captain Michael Vaughan in The Telegraph. And for once English cricket has “a trendsetting team the rest of the world should emulate”. Speaking about Buttler, Vaughan said that the victorious skipper has now “stepped out of Eoin Morgan’s shadow” and is “showing himself to be his own man”. A World Cup-winning captain at the first attempt, he has “the chance to build his own legacy” and can “take them even higher”. 

Morgan, the 2019 World Cup-winning captain, retired from international cricket this summer and Buttler was appointed as his permanent replacement. With big shoes to fill, Buttler was hailed by Stokes as “incredible” and he said England were “lucky to have him”. 

“When the great man [Morgan] stepped down, you look at how quickly Jos has managed to take control of the team and progress it from the legacy Morgs has left,” Stokes told Sky Sports. “Jos has now created his own legacy. He’s a T20 World Cup-winning captain and he is incredible. It shouldn’t be taken for granted how hard it can be to make tactical decisions under pressure and 95% of his decision-making has been absolutely right.”