Pak vs Eng Five things to know ahead of winner-takes-all World Cup final.

Pakistan and England will face each other in the winner-takes-all World Cup 2022 final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday. Here are the five things Pakistan fans must know ahead of the match:

1- Melbourne virgins

Both England and Pakistan have not won a T20I at the famed MCG - a stat that holds true not just for this World Cup but overall too. Pakistan's only fixture in Melbourne in the ongoing tournament was against India, which they lost but only by a slim margin.

England was slated to play two games at the MCG, but both were affected by rain and neither was completed. They were stunned in the first fixture by Ireland, thanks to the DLS method, while their clash with Australia was washed out in its entirety.

Their other three - in 2011, 2015 and 2018 - T20I outings at the MCG also ended in defeats, with their highest score across all those matches being a mere 143. Thus, if Pakistan is yet to get off the mark at this venue, England's duck is older and uglier. In fact, one would have expected them to have a much better record considering they're frequent flyers to Australia due to their rivalry with the hosts.

A clear memory from Pakistan's game against India at the MCG was the early movement Indian seamers got. It remains to be seen if the final will be played on the same strip or a different one. If it's the latter, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan should be watchful early on.

2- Pakistan's bowling vs England's batting

It is no secret that the final will be a battle between Pakistan's bowlers and England's batters. Shaheen Shah Afridi is clearly the spearhead of Pakistan's bowling unit but others have been very impressive too. Shadab Khan has just as many wickets (10) as Shaheen and he has also routinely choked the flow of runs in the difficult middle overs.

Naseem Shah has been a bit lacking in the wickets department - just three in this World Cup so far - but that is not to say that he cannot be disciplined and menacing. Haris Rauf has been bowling with a ferocious pace whereas Mohammad Wasim has been such a refreshing addition to the line-up that he may have permanently ended Asif Ali's international career. Add to it Mohammad Nawaz's underrated left-arm spin and the seventh option of Iftikhar 'Chacha' Ahmed's off-spin which gives Pakistan arguably the best and certainly the most varied bowling attack in the world.

England's main strength is their batting of course. Their top two, as India would attest, are ridiculously...