England and Pakistan are scheduled to go head to head in the T20 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
However, having defeated India and New Zealand respectively, the two nations must wait to see whether the Australian weather will disrupt a highly-anticipated showdown on the biggest stage.
Match preview
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From defeat to Ireland to thrashing India without losing a wicket, England have endured a World Cup campaign which has delivered the kinds of highs and lows that they may not have anticipated.
Nevertheless, Jos Buttler and his players will not care how they have arrived at the World Cup final and only remain concerned about how they can continue to have the upper hand over Pakistan.
The teams are certainly no strangers to each other with England recently winning a best-of-seven series on away territory by a 4-3 scoreline before thrashing the same opponents in a World Cup warm-up fixture less than a month ago.
During the group stages of this competition, England found themselves up against it when losing to Ireland in the second match, and a washout against Australia ultimately prevented them from losing a second game in succession, one which could have proven decisive.
Since then, however, England have reeled off victories over New Zealand, Sri Lanka and India, handling the pressure in must-win scenarios, with Buttler and Alex Hales's unbeaten 170-run opening stand against the latter in the semi-finals one of the highlights of the tournament.
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With the ball, Sam Curran (10) and Mark Wood (9) have made key contributions, and England will hope that the second of those pacemen shakes off a fitness issue to return on Sunday.
As for Paksitan, they begun the tournament with narrow defeats to India and Zimbabwe, the second of those leaving the nation as rank outsiders to make the top two in Group 2, but beating South Africa in their penultimate game gave them a chance of retrieving the situation.
With Netherlands then stunning the Proteas, Pakistan were able to progress in second place, providing them with the platform to show their true worth versus New Zealand.
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam have not enjoyed their best tournaments, but a 100-plus stand and half-centuries apiece guided their team through to a first World Cup final in 13 years.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan have taken 10 wickets each, while Mohammad Wasim has clocked up tournament figures of 7-86 and could have a big part to play in the final.
Team News
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England continue to have injury concerns over Wood and Dawid Malan with each player believed to be struggling to overcome their respective issues.
Wood is dealing with a hip problem and Malan has a groin injury, leaving Phil Salt and Chris Jordan in line to remain in the team after their outings in the semi-final.
Pakistan may see no reason to make any changes to the team which got the better of New Zealand in Sydney earlier this week.
Each of the batsmen that were called upon delivered, while none of the bowlers, despite taking just three wickets between them, conceded at a rate of above 8.25 runs per over.
Although Naseem Shah has taken just three wickets from his 22 overs, he has conceded just six runs per over, and his place in the team is not under threat.
England squad: Buttler, Moeen, Brook, Curran, Hales, Jordan, Livingstone, Malan, Mills, Rashid, Salt, Stokes, Willey, Woakes, Wood
Pakistan squad: Babar, Asif, Haider, Haris, Iftikhar, Khushdil, M.Haris, Hasnain, Nawaz, Rizwan, Wasim, Shah, Shadab, Shaheen, Masood
Road to the final
England results
October 22: Beat Afghanistan by five wickets
October 26: Lost to Ireland by five runs (D/L method)
October 28: Match abandoned
November 1: Beat New Zealand by 20 runs
November 5: Beat Sri Lanka by four wickets
November 10: Beat India by 10 wickets
Pakistan results
October 23: Lost to India by four wickets
October 27: Lost to Zimbabwe by one run.
October 30: Beat Netherlands by six wickets
November 3: Beat South Africa by 33 runs (D/L method)
November 6: Beat Bangladesh by five wickets
November 9: Beat New Zealand by seven wickets
We say: England to win
Given the forecast of persistent showers, it is impossible to make any concrete decision. A reserve day is available should it be required, but both teams will want to play at the allotted 20 overs.
While any team who can defeat New Zealand in a semi-final deserve respect, we cannot back against England. A shortened match may arguably suit their explosive batters and even though key men could be absent, Buttler's side have depth in both departments and could edge a close game.
Darren Plant
