All you need to know for T20 World Cup final

When and where

Pakistan and England are the final two teams standing, and will meet in the final of the 2022 Men's T20 World Cup in Melbourne on Sunday evening, with the match scheduled to begin at 7pm AEDT.

The full scorecard and live ball-by-ball coverage here.

How can I watch?

Australia are out but this will still be a match worth tuning in for.  

Foxtel and Kayo Sports have broadcast every match of the T20 World Cup to date and will do so again for Sunday's final.

Cricket has also returned to the Nine Network this tournament, who hold rights for ICC events in Australia. The final will be on either their main channel or 9Gem (depending on your state), and on their streaming platform 9Now. Check local guides for more details. 

Kayo offers a free trial to all new subscribers. You can sign up for that here.

Can I listen?

The ABC and SEN will both be providing radio coverage of the final, so if the wireless is more your thing, you've got a couple of options!

Where do I get tickets? 

Believe it or not, there are still a select few tickets available for the final, but you will have to get in quick! 

The last two World Cup finals at the MCG have been unforgettable affairs; the Women's T20 World Cup final in March 2020 saw 86,174 in attendance to see Australia's all-conquering women’s side lift the cup, and the Men's ODI World Cup final in March 2015 saw 93,013 click through the turnstiles as the Aussies downed New Zealand.  

Snap up a last-minute ticket here

And what about bad weather? 

Unfortunately, rain has been a factor throughout the tournament, and it looms as the case again for Sunday's final.

The Sunday morning update is the forecast has improved slightly for this evening after a night of heavy rain, and fingers crossed we can get a full game in. But it still looks likely there could be some impact on the match. In classic Melbourne weather, Sunday morning was bright and sunny and beautiful conditions, until clouds began rolling in over the MCG about 11am.

While the headline figure from the Bureau of Meteorology is for an 80 per cent chance of any rain on Sunday and a possible thunderstorm, the worst of it is forecast to hit the MCG around 2pm. So drilling down to 7pm on Sunday evening when the match is set to begin, the forecast is for a 50 per cent chance of at least 1mm, and a 10 per cent chance it could be as high as 7mm, in which case we'd be looking at a total washout for the evening.

The ICC does have a reserve day scheduled for the final if necessary, although the preference will be to complete the match on the night, with umpires to do everything they can to get the match completed, including reducing overs and the DLS coming into play before the reserve day option will be triggered.

In normal circumstances, just five overs a side is needed to constitue an official match in the T20 format, but in the finals, a minimum of 10 overs must be bowled to the side batting second (unless a result is achieved sooner) for it to be an official match.

There's an extra 90 minutes available to get the match done tonight. But if the reserve day is needed, the window for play will open at 3pm AEDT. Fearing the worst and to give themselves some breathing room to get the game played, the ICC made a call on Saturday to extend that Monday playing window by an extra two hours.

If the reserve day is needed, it will be a continuation from whatever happened on Sunday night when play was stopped, meaning the slate will not be wiped clean, and there won't suddenly be extra overs added back on for either team.

But if the worst presents, and there isn't even a coin toss on Sunday night, then the match will start from scratch on Monday. 

The forecast for Monday is better than Sunday's but not by a heap, and there will be a lot of nervous administrators and broadcasters refreshing their weather apps on Sunday, not to mention how fans and players will be feeling.

Form guide

Pakistan are riding a wave of optimism given this campaign's striking similarities to their win at the 1992 ODI World Cup at the MCG. Then they lost their opening match, qualified for the semis with a last gasp, beat New Zealand in the semi-final and met England in the final.

Then it was a Wasim Akram the hero as Imran Khan's 'cornerd tigers' stormed to victory. Now, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi aim to do the same.

After losing their opening two matches to India and Zimbabwe, they've strung together three wins in a row to leapfrog South Africa into the semi-final spots.

The injection of the 21-year-old fearless big-hitter Mohammad Haris has been a revalation - he replaced the injured Fakhar Zaman, lit up South Africa with a scintilating 11-ball 28 and has played a key innings in each victory so far.

Meanwhile, England set down a strong marker with a comprehensive demolition of India in their semi-final with a 10-wicket win. England have been in the country playing competitive matches since early October, beating Australia 2-0 in a T20 series before the Super 12 stage began.

They had an embarassing slip against Ireland, losing by five wickets on the DLS in the Melbourne rain, but truth be told even one extra delivery could have reversed that result with the English finishing with a wet sail. That experience will serve them well come Sunday and they won't leave their charge late again.

A match against Australia was a washout, they humbled the Kiwis in Sydney, did the necessary to move past Sri Lanka and secure their semi-final spot and eliminate Australia before blowing away India by chasing down 168 with four overs to spare and all 10 wickets intact. 

If they can win, they will unify the 50-over and T20 World Cup titles after they were awarded the ODI title in 2019 on boundary countback (a tiebreaker that no longer exists). 

Who are the players to watch?

Pakistan captain Babar Azam found form at just the right time in his side's semi-final win over New Zealand, with 53 from 42 balls to add an extra dimension to their play. Before then, it had been the bowlers who had stood up. Quicks Shaheen Shah Afridi (10 wickets) and Haris Rauf (six wickets) are box office, while Shadab Khan's leg-spinners (10 wickets) have been among the most effective in the tournament. 

After their semi-final win, the easy call would be to lock in Jos Buttler (199 runs) and Alex Hales (211 runs) as England's players to watch but just as impressive has been left armer Sam Curran. The allrounder has both taken wickets (10) and been economical (7.2 runs per over) all while being tasked with bowling the difficult death overs.

And of course that bloke Ben Stokes has shown his penchant to be in the thick of the action for the biggest moments in the biggest games, and following his infamous final over meltdown in the 2016 T20 World Cup final against Carlos Brathwaite, will be keen to make ammends. 

The BBL connection

India were quizzed if their lack of BBL experience hurt them in their semi-final as Jos Buttler and Alex Hales, who have both featured in the tournament, pummelled them in Adelaide. Buttler isn't part of BBL|12 but Hales will again suit up for the Sydney Thunder this summer.

The BBL's No.1 draft pick Liam Livingstone will also be in action for England.

Perth Scorchers draftee Phil Salt, he of ex-Adelaide Strikers fame – played in the semi-final and looks set to play in the final as well unless Dawid Malan can come up from his groin injury.

Indeed, ten of England's XI that played the semi-final have BBL experience, with only Moeen Ali not having featured in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's squad includes four players that have featured in the BBL in the past, including Hobart Hurricanes draftees Shadab Khan and Asif Ali.

Shadab has been a star for Pakistan in the tournament, as has Haris Rauf, the ex-Melbourne Stars paceman who will hope to use his local knowledge of the MCG to good effect.

Black armbands for England

England will wear black armbands in memory of David English, who died overnight Saturday, aged 76. English, best known as an actor and manager of the Bee Gees, was a legendary charity fundraiser for cricket in England, with his Bunbury Festivals raising more than GBP17m for the grassroots and playing in role in producing more than 1000 first-class cricketers, including a number of players in the current England set-up. Captain Jos Buttler tweeted out his tribute as the team in Melbourne awoke to the news on the morning of the match.

Show me the money?

The tournament winners will get a hefty US$1.6m (A$2.5m) prize for lifting the trophy. The beaten finalists will get half of that.

The two teams that lost in the semi-finals each received US$400,000 (A$645,000).

By a quirk of the FTP, India and New Zealand now both cross the Tasman where they will play three T20s and as many ODIs against each other this month, while England will soon travel to Pakistan for three Tests in December.