Pakistan needed to beat Sri Lanka by a large margin to move New Zealand into second place in the semi-finals.
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Published February 28, 2026
Pakistan were eliminated from the Twenty20 World Cup despite defeating already eliminated Sri Lanka by five points in the Group 2 Super Eights match at Palekele.
With an inferior net run rate, Pakistan needed a big win against Sri Lanka on Saturday to beat New Zealand and join group leaders England in the semi-finals.
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Sahibzada Farhan (100) and Fakhar Zaman (84) opened the scoring with a T20 World Cup record 176, raising the score to 212-8.
Sri Lanka needed to limit their opponents to 147 points or less to advance to the final four, but they finished with 207-6 and almost snatched the victory.
Pavan Rathnayake scored 58 runs while Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka hit an unbeaten 76 off 31 balls, including three consecutive sixes in the final over, although his team fell just short of a memorable victory.
Earlier, Farhan became the first player to score two centuries in the same T20 World Cup.
Farhan hit 100 off 60 balls and fellow opener Fakhar Zaman hit 84 off 42 balls as Pakistan recorded their highest run total in the T20 World Cup after being asked to bat.
Farhan hit five sixes and nine fours, taking his total in the tournament to 383, surpassing India’s Virat Kohli’s 319 in 2014 to become the T20 World Cup record.
Farhan and Zaman had an opening stand of 176 in 15.5 overs. Zaman hit four sixes and nine fours.
Farhan pushed Dasun Shanaka for a single and completed his century on 59 balls before being dismissed by Dilshan Madhushanka in the final over.
Madhushanka was Sri Lanka’s best bowler with 3 wins and 33 losses.
Pakistan’s previous best result in the T20 World Cup was 201-5 against Bangladesh in Kolkata in 2016.
