Who: Pakistan vs England
Content: 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Super Eight
Date and time: Tuesday, February 24th, 7pm (13:30 GMT)
Location: Palekele International Cricket Stadium (Kandy, Sri Lanka)
How to follow: All content will be broadcast on Al Jazeera Sports from 10:30 GMT, ahead of the text commentary stream.
Click here to follow the live coverage.
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The second Super Eight match of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup begins on Tuesday with an interesting battle between Pakistan and England, two former champions who consider themselves legitimate title contenders.
Despite humiliating India in the group stage, Pakistan have a rich squad that can compete with any cricket team in the world on the day.
England, who were tipped as second-place favorites for the T20 World Championship ahead of the tournament, are gradually gaining momentum in the tournament, as evidenced by their defeat of hosts Sri Lanka in Sunday’s Super Eights opener.
Al Jazeera Sports looks at the match-up, which could be a pivotal result that could affect both countries’ hopes of making it to the semi-finals.
What’s at stake in the Super Eights match between Pakistan and England?
Pakistan are in desperate need of a win after losing their first match against New Zealand on Saturday.
If England lose, England, who beat Sri Lanka by just 95 points, will advance to the semi-finals with one game remaining.
Pakistan will need to beat Sri Lanka in their final Super 8 match and other results will be expected to advance to the last four.
It will be a historic match as Pakistan have not beaten England in their previous three encounters in the Twenty20 (T20) World Cup.
“We are confident and morale is high,” said Pakistan batsman Sahibzada Farhan, who made an unbeaten hundred in Pakistan’s final group match against Namibia.
“We are focused on this game to win and move forward.”
Pakistan weather forecast for Palekele
Due to persistent rain in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, the first Super Eight match between Pakistan and New Zealand was called off without a single ball being bowled, leaving both teams to split the points at the R. Premadasa Stadium.
Pakistan will be hoping the weather does not affect their crucial second draw, as another result would all but end their hopes of making it to the semi-finals.
Thankfully, the weather is expected to be good for Tuesday’s game against England at the Palekele International Stadium in Kandy, with temperatures expected to be 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit) and only a 25% chance of rain. In other words, there should be a result, and a full match is likely.
England are in good shape
England started their Super 8s campaign with a 51-point victory over Sri Lanka, a statistically dominant result that saw them top Group 2 on net run rate.
The two-time champions have now won their final three matches of the tournament.
Will Jacks was the breakout star with the bat in this tournament, averaging 65 per game and posting an impressive strike rate of 195.
Pakistan to upset England
Pakistan on Monday warned England’s erratic batting line-up to expect spin challenges when the two teams collide.
Farhan told reporters that England struggled at 146-9 against Sri Lanka’s spinners on Sunday.
The in-form opener said England can expect the same from Pakistan’s spinners when they face each other at the same Palekele ground on Tuesday night.
“What we saw in the Sri Lanka-England game was that the ball was gripping and England were struggling with spin,” Farhan said on Monday.
“Sri Lanka have one or two spinners but we have five in total so we will give England a tough fight on a pitch that looks good and has good grip,” he added.
The Pakistan spinner has picked up 26 wickets in the last four matches. Their seamers have sacked just seven batters.
“It won’t be difficult”: Farhan from Archer Express
Farhan, who tops the T20 World Cup run-scoring rankings with 220 points, said he is ready for the threat of England’s fast bowler Jofra Archer.
“I have played against similar bowlers in Pakistan, so it will not be difficult to play against Archer,” Farhan said.
“So if he has plans for me, I have plans for him.”
pakistan team news
Pakistan is likely to field spinner Abrar Ahmed in place of all-rounder Faheem Ashraf.
It was a big shock that Shaheen Shah Afridi was absent from the final group stage match against Namibia and the first Super Eight match against New Zealand.
The bowling superstar was costly in the group phase as his team pivoted to a spin-dominated strategy.
The left-arm quick is expected to return to the starting XI as Pakistan desperately need a win against England.
england team news
England could name an unchanged squad for a fifth successive game, with Liam Dawson, Will Jacks, Adil Rashid and Jacob Bethel providing spin options.
Form guide:
Pakistan
WWLW-NR (latest results last)
england
WLWWW (latest results last)
What is England’s T20 World Cup record?
England have won the T20 World Cup twice, in 2010 (beat Australia) and 2022 (beat Pakistan).
They jointly hold the record for most T20 World Cup wins along with India (2007, 2024) and West Indies (2012, 2016).
What is Pakistan’s T20 World Cup record?
Pakistan have been finalists three times but have lifted the trophy only once.
India reached the final for the first time in 2007, winning by five points.
In the second edition of the tournament in 2009, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in the final, but they had to wait 13 years to play in the next final, only for England to win by five wickets.
What happened the last time England played Pakistan in a T20 match?
England and Pakistan have not faced each other in a Twenty20 match since the last T20 World Cup in 2024.
The two teams played a four-match series in England, with the home team winning 2-0 and completing the victory with a seven-wicket victory in the final match at The Oval on 30 May 2024.
direct confrontation
This will be the 32nd meeting between the countries in the shortest format of cricket.
England have won more than two-thirds of their matches with 21 wins, while Pakistan have won nine. There was one case with “no results.”
Pakistan likely to feature in the eleven
Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan (wk), Khawaja Nafai, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq
England likely to play in the eleven
Jos Buttler (wk), Phil Salt, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (c), Tom Bunton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid
