Pakistan vs England LIVE: T20 Cricket World Cup final result and reaction as Ben Stokes stars

The organisers of the Men’s T20 World Cup have changed the playing regulations for today’s final in Melbourne to allow more time in case of rain stoppages.

The tournament been blighted by the weather with rain affecting a bunch of fixtures during the Super 12 stage and bad weather is forecasted in Melbourne for the next two days.

England meet Pakistan at 08:00 GMT on Sunday and a reserve day is scheduled for Monday but, with more rain forecast, two hours have been added to allow play to continue late into Monday evening.

If a bare-minimum 10-over-per-side contest cannot be played on either of the days then England and Pakistan will be declared joint winners.

England surged into the T20 World Cup final as Alex Hales and Jos Buttler made mincemeat of a potentially tricky chase of 169 to chasten India at Adelaide.

Hales pummelled the shorter square boundaries while Buttler was equally dismissive of India’s bowlers in a record-breaking unbroken stand of 170 as England claimed a scarcely credible 10-wicket win.

India were viewed as marginal favourites to set up a mouthwatering marquee match against Pakistan at the MCG on Sunday but Hales (86 not out off 47 balls) and Buttler (80no off 49 deliveries) disabused them of that notion in jaw-dropping fashion.

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan hit top form in a timely fashion to propel Pakistan into the T20 World Cup final as they overcame New Zealand by seven wickets at Sydney.

The opening pair are widely viewed as two of the best white-ball batters in the world and while they have both had quiet tournaments so far, they flourished when it mattered most against the Black Caps.

A bit of luck was involved as Babar was dropped off his first ball before going on to register 53 off 42 deliveries, taking the sting out of a chase of 153 alongside Rizwan in a 105-run first-wicket stand.

This is it. The T20 World Cup final. A game which will determine who lifts the trophy and goes down in cricketing history and who goes home deflated and defeated.

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the showpiece fixture of the T20 World Cup where England will take on Pakistan at the MCG.

Both teams have gone through difficult campaigns leading to this stage. Pakistan needed to win their final three Super 12 matches to have any hopes of qualifying for the final four and even then they required the help of the Netherlands - who defeated South Africa - to get them through. Babar Azam’s side improved massively in the semi-final and comfortably knocked out New Zealand have chased down a score of 153 with five balls remaining.

England were in a similar predicament. A rain-affected loss to Ireland put them on the back foot in the Super 12 groups and a washout against Australia meant the needed to defeat New Zealand and Sri Lanka to qualify. Thankfully Jos Buttler’s men rose to the challenge and snuck into the final four where they faced India.

What should have been a closely contested game turned into a one-sided affair as England battered India. They won by 10-wickets with exactly four overs to spare and in T20 cricket that is a spanking.

But who will win today? The fate of matches can flip in an over in T20 cricket and these two sides are well matched. England will be the favourites but on their day Pakistan are capable of beating anyone in the world. This one should be a corker.