Kandy: Skipper Harry Brooke’s superb century helped England beat Pakistan by two wickets in the Super Eights match of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Ballegale International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
The win saw England finish second in the Super Eight tournament and help them become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing 20-team tournament as they topped Group 2 with four points.
Chasing a tough target of 165 runs, two-time champions Brook’s captain’s performance saw them reach the target with 8 wickets and 5 balls to spare.
The Three Lions got off to a contrasting start to their innings as Shaheen Shah Afridi struck three times, dismissing Phil Salt (nil), Jos Buttler (two) and Jacob Bethel (eight) for just 35 in five overs.
But Brook stood his ground and dominated the scoreboard, scoring 23 and 45 runs with Tom Panton (two) and Sam Curran (16) respectively.
The England captain found ample support from the other end when Will Jacks came out to bat at number 7 when Shaheen added 52 for the sixth wicket off the final delivery of the 17th over to put the game out of Pakistan’s grasp.
Brooke was out again after top-scoring with 100 off 51 balls with 10 fours and 4 sixes.
Jacks, on the other hand, was bowled by Mohammad Nawaz for 28 when England needed five runs off 12 balls.
Navas struck again in the same over, stumping Jamie Overton to send England into a frenzy in the chase.
With two wickets in hand and three runs needed in the final over, Jofra Archer hit Salman Mirza for a boundary on the first ball to give England a hard-fought win.
Among Pakistan’s bowlers, Shaheen took four wickets conceding just 30 runs in his four overs, while Usman Tariq Nawaz took two wickets each.
Opting to bat first, the 2009 champions amassed 164/9 in 20 overs thanks to Farhan’s anchor.
Left-arm opener Saeem Ayub (seven) and skipper Salman Ali Agha (5) were dismissed for 27 runs in the first four overs as Pakistan began to unravel their innings.
Following the initial setback, star batsman Babar joined forces with Azam Farhan in the middle and the duo batted cautiously to add 46 off 44 balls.
Jamie Overton finally broke the budding partnership in the 11th over by cleaning up Babbar’s 25 off 24 balls with the help of two fours.
Farhan was involved in another crucial partnership for Pakistan – a 49-run stand with Fakhar Zaman for the fourth wicket – until he fell to Overton in the 16th over.
The right-handed opener was Pakistan’s top scorer with 63 off 45 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes.
Fakhar followed it up in the next over, falling to Adil Rashid after a 16-ball 25 that included two sixes and several fours.
Liam Dawson dismissed wicket-keeper batsman Usman Khan (eight) and all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz (zero) in successive balls in the next over to reduce the total to 146/7 in 17.5 overs.
Then Shatab Khan added valuable runs with a brilliant 23 off 11 balls with 4 fours.
Dawson was the best bowler for England, taking 3 wickets for just 24 runs in his four overs, followed by Jofra Archer and Overton with two wickets each and Adil with one.