T20 World Cup 2025/26, ENG vs PAK 45th Match, Super Eights, Group 2 Match Report, February 24, 2026

uk 166 for 8 (Brook 100, Afridi 4-30) Pakistan 164 for 9 with two wickets (Farhan 63, Dawson 3-24).

If you want a job done well, do it yourself. England skipper Harry Brook took matters into his own hands at Pallekele, batting at number three and blazing his first T20 international hundred to send his team past Pakistan and into the semi-finals of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup.

Brook started the tournament with 53 against Nepal for the first time as captain, but was dismissed for spin below 20 in four successive innings. His response was to move up two places from number five to bat in the powerplay, and after Shaheen Shah Afridi, summoned by Pakistan, hit the first ball of England’s chase, he found himself walking out for the second ball.

Afridi took three wickets in the powerplay to check England’s progress while Usman Tariq struck twice in the middle overs to reduce them to 58 for 4 and 103 for 5. But Brook continued to attack Pakistan’s attack from all corners, firing Afridi over cover for a six and then reaching his 50-ball hundred through four middle overs.

He was cleaned up one ball later by Afridi’s accurate yorker, but received a standing ovation with England needing just 10 to win. They worked hard and gifted Mohammad Nawaz two wickets to take the match for 20, but while England’s dugout heaved a sigh of relief, Jofra Archer fouled Salman Mirza through midwicket.

England’s victory confirmed their qualification for the semi-finals, and a win over New Zealand in Colombo on Friday would see them top their group. Although they are yet to reach full form and underperformed against Pakistan, they have now reached the semi-finals of their fifth successive Men’s T20 World Cup.

Meanwhile, Pakistan will have to rely on other results after beating Sri Lanka in their last match of the group stage. Despite Sahibzada Farhan’s impressive 63, they always seemed short of runs after getting bogged down by spin in the middle overs, while Liam Dawson’s 3 for 24 was a standout performance among England’s attack.

All the best, Brooke.

It’s been a long, hard winter on the road for Brook, and it’s a reminder of his devastating best. Now a trip to New Zealand has seen him put on an incredible 135 following an altercation with a nightclub bouncer. His disappointing Ashes tour included a match-winning performance at the MCG. And in Sri Lanka, he was bowled out for 136 to not win the ODI series.

He had no offense at the World Cup and struggled to counter spin with the field spread out, but appeared to be playing on a different surface to Pallekele’s teammates. He became the first England batsman to score 100 men’s T20I runs as captain and completed a record of centuries across formats. None of his teammates scored more than 30 points.

England’s openers again struggled. Phil Salt failed to reach Afridi’s first ball and ran out for swing behind, while Jos Buttler’s disastrous form saw them fall behind by just two runs. But Brook took a clean touch to get Mirza through square leg for six and then got 17 off Nawaz’s first over. This was the last of the power play.

He used his feet brilliantly in the middle overs, skipping down and lifting Shadab Khan over his head for a six before hauling him down the leg side for four and happily seeing off the dangerous Tariq. He reached his hundred with another one-two punch from Afridi and got a handshake from the fast bowler when he was yoke by the next ball.

It will soon become clear whether Brook’s promotion to No. 3 will be a permanent change, having batted above No. 4 for the first time in his T20I career, and he has credited England coach Brendon McCullum as an inspiration for the change. “That was all Baz,” he said. “He came to me this morning and said, ‘Maybe we can switch things up today and put you in third place.’”

Farhan or bust

Pakistan’s weak innings owed a lot to Farhan, who was one of the only batsmen to score an individual half-century in this World Cup. He is the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 283 runs in five innings, but Pakistan’s next highest run-scorer is Shadab with just 111 runs.

They lost an early wicket after electing to bat first as Saim Ayub miscued Jofra Archer’s pull-off and Salman Agha picked Jamie Overton deep while Dawson was bowling in the powerplay for the second time in the tournament. But they were badly lost in the middle and Farhan and Babar Azam added 46 off 44 balls for the third wicket.

Farhan tried to revive Pakistan’s innings after Overton’s cross seamer ducked under the bottom edge of Babar to tip Will Jacks over midwicket for a 100-metre six. After reaching his 37-ball 50, he attempted to accelerate against Overton, hitting a six and four, but was caught at the boot by a surprise yorker as Pakistan came to a halt again.

Fakhar Zaman, summoned to the side at the Super Eight stage, swung a pair of sixes to ground but was caught well by Adil Rashid’s Dawson, who rolled through his repertoire to keep Pakistan guessing in the middle order. And Dawson met a miserable demise, taking two wickets in two balls in the 18th over as Pakistan could only scrape to 164.

England has another ugly win.

England sailed through the group stage with three unconvincing wins over their semi-final opponents and defended an under-par total to beat Sri Lanka on Sunday. Jacob Bethell conceded two boundaries due to a bad field, Brook dropped a catch at extra cover and Archer gave Pakistan a free hit when he forgot he was supposed to be inside the 30-yard circle.

Butler’s batting lineup wasn’t great either, with only Brook in any way convincing on Tuesday night. However, they have repeatedly stressed throughout the tournament that they cannot reach their peak in the World Cup group stage, and are heading through the knockout stages hoping their best performance is yet to come.

Matt Roller is a senior correspondent for ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98

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