Captain Brooke’s century leads England home in pursuit of No. 165, with Pakistan staring at the prospect of an exit.
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Published February 24, 2026
England booked their place in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup with a spirited two-wicket victory in the Super Eights against Pakistan, who were inching closer to being eliminated from the tournament.
On Tuesday at the Palekele International Cricket Stadium on the outskirts of Kandy in Sri Lanka, the team achieved a target of 165 runs in 19.1 overs, with captain Harry Brook scoring a sublime century under pressure, becoming the first team to reach the knockout stages.
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Brooke formed a 52-run partnership with in-form all-rounder Will Jacks, scoring 28 runs to spark the win.
However, England’s victory started with a slump and ended in a wobbly fashion as their top-order and lower-order batsmen fell into a slump before Pakistan’s total of 164-9.
The two-time champions won the second match of the Super Eight stage to earn four points and advance to the last four, while Pakistan remained with just one point after two games.
England’s run chase got off to a poor start with Shaheen Shah Afridi removing opener Phil Salt from the first ball of the first innings. Salt parried a long-range shot to wicketkeeper Usman Khan and responded with a diving catch.
Afridi, who was left out of the Pakistan team for the elimination match against New Zealand, made a dream comeback by picking up a wicket in his second over as former captain Jos Buttler was dismissed in a similar manner.
Jacob Bethel, caught deep off Afridi, and Tom Banton, caught behind off Usman Tariq, fell for the next two wickets as Pakistan looked to have the upper hand in the second innings.
However, Brook’s cautious yet aggressive onslaught, coupled with some poor fielding by Pakistan, helped England revive the innings in the middle overs.
Just when the team seemed assured of victory, Brook collapsed after scoring his hundred, sparking a late batting collapse and giving Pakistan hope, but he was crushed by Jofra Archer’s boundary on the first ball of the 20th over, sealing England’s victory.
Earlier, Sahibzada Farhan continued his impressive scoring form, scoring 63 runs off 45 balls, which became the cornerstone of Pakistan’s innings.
In the opening match, Babar Azam provided some support, but they conceded 25 runs.
Fakhar Zaman’s 25 points and Shadab Khan’s 23 points helped Pakistan cross the 160-point mark in a must-win match.
Spin bowler Liam Dawson’s figures of 3-24 from four overs were supported by two wickets each from pacers Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton, giving England four wins from their last four matches in the tournament.
The final match of the Super Eights will be against New Zealand on Friday, followed by Pakistan taking on hosts Sri Lanka the following day.
The next Group 2 match will be played between Sri Lanka and New Zealand on Wednesday.
Pakistan will have to hope that Sri Lanka can beat New Zealand by a big margin, followed by a similar win for England two days later to reduce the Kiwis’ net run rate.
Salman Ali Agha’s side must inflict their third defeat on Sri Lanka to eliminate them and emerge as the second team from the Super 8 group to qualify for the semi-finals.
