England booked their place in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 semi-finals after Harry Brook led his side to a dramatic two-wicket victory over Pakistan in the Super Eight fixture at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy, on Tuesday.
The victory, which marked England’s second in as many matches in the Super Eights, helped them become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing 20-team tournament as they consolidated top spot in Group 2 with four points.
Set to chase a 165-run target, the two-time champions amassed the target for the loss of eight wickets and five balls to spare, courtesy of Brook’s captain’s knock.
The Three Lions had a contrasting start to their innings as Shaheen Shah Afridi struck thrice, dismissing Phil Salt (zero), Jos Buttler (two) and Jacob Bethell (eight), inside five overs with just 35 runs on the board.
But Brook stood his ground firm and kept the scoreboard ticking singlehandedly as he registered one-sided partnerships with Tom Banton (two) and Sam Curran (16), which yielded 23 and 45 runs, respectively.
The England captain eventually found ample support from the other end when Will Jacks walked out to bat at No.7 as the duo pulled the game away out of Pakistan’s grasp by putting together 52 runs for the sixth wicket until the set batter was eventually cleaned up by Shaheen on the final delivery of the 17th over.
Brook walked back after top-scoring with a 51-ball 100, studded with 10 fours and four sixes.
Jacks, on the other hand, followed suit an over latter as he was bowled by Mohammad Nawaz on 28 when England needed five runs off 12 deliveries.
Nawaz struck again in the same over, getting Jamie Overton stumped to cause a stir in England’s pursuit.
The equation came down to three runs required off the final over with two wickets in hand, and Jofra Archer smashed Salman Mirza for a boundary on the first delivery to clinch a hard-earned victory for England.
Shaheen was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan as he picked up four wickets for just 30 runs in his four overs, while Usman Tariq Nawaz bagged two each.
Opting to bat first, the 2009 champions accumulated 164/9 in their 20 overs, courtesy of Farhan’s anchoring knock.
Pakistan got off to a shaky start to their innings as their left-handed opener Saim Ayub (seven) and captain Salman Ali Agha (five) perished inside the first four overs with just 27 runs on the board.
Following the early setback, star batter Babar Azam joined Farhan in the middle, and the duo batted cautiously to launch a recovery by putting together 46 runs off 44 deliveries.
Jamie Overton eventually broke the budding partnership in the 11th over by cleaning up Babar, who walked back after scoring 25 off 24 deliveries with the help of two fours.
Farhan was then involved in another crucial partnership for Pakistan – a 49-run stand for the fourth wicket with Fakhar Zaman – until eventually falling victim to Overton in the 16th over.
The right-handed opener remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with a 45-ball 63, studded with seven fours and two sixes.
Fakhar followed suit in the next over, falling prey to Adil Rashid after scoring a 16-ball 25, comprising two sixes and as many fours.
Liam Dawson added to Pakistan’s woes in the next over as he dismissed wicketkeeper batter Usman Khan (eight) and all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz (zero) in successive deliveries and brought the total down to 146/7 in 17.5 overs.
Shadab Khan then added valuable runs at the backend with a handy 23-run cameo, which came off 11 deliveries and featured four boundaries.
Dawson was the standout bowler for England, taking three wickets for just 24 runs in his four overs, followed by Jofra Archer and Overton with two each, while Adil chipped in with one.
