Champions Trophy 2017 final: India vs Pakistan match and score prediction

India will go into this ICC Champions Trophy 2017 final as the favourites, and with that comes extra pressure. The fact that many feel Pakistan have done splendidly well just to get to this point, does ease the weight of expectations on them, which could prove to be a crucial factor in this CT 2017 final.

The last time that happened, Sri Lanka surprised India by chasing down a big total, with Angelo Mathews admitting the fact that there was no pressure helped his young side.

Of course, this being a final and considering the opponents are India, there will be pressure on Pakistan, but not quite as much as on Virat Kohli's men.

Will that be the difference-maker in the end in this ICC Champions Trophy final?

Here is a look at how India vs Pakistan final could go.

If India bat first:

The pitch looks good to bat on right from the off, with the fresh surface having very little moisture, which means there isn't much for the Pakistan new ball bowlers to take advantage of.

Take advantage Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan certainly do, hitting a fair few boundaries from the off to give India the opening they need. However, this time, there is no half-century or hundred partnership, with Dhawan falling in the fifth over to Mohammad Amir.

Then, Junaid Khan nearly picks up Kohli as well, inducing the outside edge of the India captain with a ball that was slanted across, but Babar Azam, in the slips, drops the catch, failing to hold on, moving to his right.

Kohli recovers from that jittery start and soon starts to get that ball off the middle of his bat. With Rohit doing the same at the other end, India get their groove on with the bat. A partnership of 178 sets the innings up for India, with Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni coming in and doing the finishing job to a T, which takes the score to 326.

Pakistan begin the big chase in the perfect manner. Fakhar Zaman finds the boundaries with ease, while Azhar Ali stays strong, putting any bad ball away.

The two openers add 88 runs together for the first wicket to put Pakistan on course to win their first ICC Champions Trophy title. However, once Zaman falls, to a brilliant delivery from R Ashwin, the chase goes off course.

Azhar and Babar Azam fall in quick succession, with Mohammad Hafeez also losing his wicket after a 24. Shoaib Malik tries to keep Pakistan's hopes alive along with captain Sarfraz Ahmed, but once that partnership is broken, India scythe through the rest of the batting lineup to retain their title.

If Pakistan bat first:

Azhar Ali is a first over victim for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who gets one ball to just move away enough to take the outside edge through to Dhoni. Zaman and Azam, though, get a partnership going, which keeps Pakistan in the hunt for a big score.

The left and right-hand combination adds 123 runs together, and when Mohammad Hafeez walks into the crease, Pakistan are in a pretty strong position. It gets stronger as Hafeez and Azam ally for a half-century partnership, with the innings run rate at well over five runs an over heading into the final ten overs.

Bumrah and Dhawan talk about handling pressure

India pull things back a little in the death overs, thanks to some outstanding bowling from Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar, but Pakistan still manage to get to 303.

Chasing a score of over 300 in a major tournament final is never easy, and it doesn't get any easier when Amir picks up Rohit Sharma with a corker of a delivery, that comes in enough to go between bat and pad and smash into the stumps.

Kohli and Dhawan go about building a partnership, but just when these two look to be set for a big alliance, the latter is dismissed, again by Amir, leaving India two down in the seventh over.

Now, Kohli and Yuvraj had a tremendous partnership in the first India vs Pakistan game in this Champions Trophy, so asking for another would be too much wouldn't it? Na, these two are so good, that they manage to put on another.

Thanks to that, India are on their way to getting to the target and try as Pakistan may, they just can't stop the batting team from clinching the title.