Captain Harry Brook led from the front and took his side with more responsibility batting at Number 3 to take the side home. Harry Brook came off the blocks and took the bulls by the horn in the second innings. Earlier in the day, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first, and on the back of a wonderful half-century from Sahibzada Farhan and others playing cameos, they still managed to post a competitive 164/9 in 20 overs with Liam Dawson picking up 3 wickets and others chipping in as well.
In reply, it was all about Harry Brook who scored a superlative ton while the others like Will Jacks chipped in with a contribution so did Sam Curran as England stuttered but eventually got over the line by 2 wickets with 5 balls to spare. Shaheen Afridi picked up 4 wickets and is back in form while Usman Tariq and Mohammad Nawaz picked up 2 wickets apiece but it was not enough as England got over the line and a place in the semi-finals.
Sahibzada Farhan’s solid 63 took Pakistan to a competitive 164/9 in 20 overs
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub came out to open the batting for Pakistan while Jofra Archer had ball in hand for England. Pakistan got off to a steady start as the openers put on 14 for the first wicket before Saim Ayub gave his wicket away for 7 off 7 balls with one boundary to his name to Jofra Archer. Salman Ali Agha came out to bat next.
Salman played his shots while Farhan was doing the bulk of the scoring. The duo of Farhan and Salman put on 13 runs for the second wicket before Salman the captain fell for 5 off 6 balls with one four to his name to Liam Dawson. Babar Azam came and joined Farhan in the middle as the duo started to forge a vital partnership.
Babar was playing Babar kind of innings while Farhan controlled the tempo of the innings. Pakistan reached 46/2 in 6 overs of powerplay. But the duo weren’t done there as they stabilised the innings from here. Pakistan posted 70/2 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the chase. The duo added a vital 46-run stand for the 3rd wicket before Babar was cleaned up for 25 off 24 balls with 2 fours to his name as Jamie Overton got his man. Fakhar Zaman came out to bat next.
Farhan continued his consistent run while Fakhar also got into his zone as well. Farhan and Fakhar again forged together another crucial stand. The duo put on 49 runs for the 4th wicket before Farhan fell for 63 off 45 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Overton as he was plumb in front. Shadab Khan came out to bat next.
Fakhar and Shadab added 10 runs to the tally before Zaman fell for 25 off 16 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Adil Rashid. Usman Khan came out to bat next. Another 14 runs were added to the tally before Usman fell for 8 off 5 balls with one six to his name to Dawson. Mohammad Nawaz came out to bat next and fell first ball for a golden duck as Dawson had two in two balls and was on a hat-trick. Shaheen Afridi came and survived the hat-trick ball.
Another three runs were added to the tally before Afridi fell for 2 off 3 balls to Archer. Salman Mirza came out to bat next. Shadab added a few runs to the score and some handy runs as well as 15 was scored for the 9th wicket before Shadab was the last man to be run out for a handy 23 off 11 balls with 4 fours to his name. Salman remained unbeaten on 2 off 3 balls. Pakistan finished with 164/9 in 20 overs with 4 extras given by the fielding side.
England bowled decently out there. Liam Dawson was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/24 in 4 overs. Jofra Archer finished with 2/32 in 4 overs. Jamie Overton finished with 2/26 in 3 overs. Adil Rashid finished with 1/31 in 4 overs. Sam Curran finished with 0/24 in 3 overs. Will Jacks finished with 0/27 in 2 overs. This meant that England needed 165 runs to win off 20 overs and qualify for the semi-finals.
Harry Brook’s superlative ton takes England over the line by 2 wickets
Chasing 165 for the win, Philip Salt and keeper batter Jos Buttler came out to open for England while Shaheen Afridi had ball in hand for Pakistan. England got off to the worst possible start as they lost Salt off the first ball of the innings to Afridi. Harry Brook came out to bat at 3 promoted himself up the order. Brook got going straightaway. Buttler was struggling out there. 17 runs were added to the tally for the second wicket before Buttler fell for 2 off 3 balls to Afridi yet again.
Jacob Bethell came out to bat next. Bethell tried to get a start but Brook was in the groove as well. The duo added 18 runs for the third wicket before Bethell fell for 8 off 10 balls with one four to his name as Afridi got another wicket to his name. Tom Banton came out to bat next. But the captain was counter attacking from the other end as they kept the required rate under control. England despite losing 3 wickets got the score to 53/3 in 6 overs.
Brook and Banton added 23 runs for the 4th wicket before Banton fell for 2 off 6 balls to Usman Tariq who picked his wicket off the first ball of the innings. Sam Curran came out to bat next with the score at 58/4 in 7.1 overs. Curran played the perfect supporting role for Harry Brook who was oozing class tonight. The duo took England to 82/4 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the chase.
Curran and Brook put on 45 runs off 28 balls for the 5th wicket before Curran fell for 16 off 15 balls with one four to his name. Will Jacks came out to bat next. Jacks played the perfect role of finisher while Brook was unstoppable to say the least. Brook was great and got to his hundred with the maximum to get to the milestone off 50 balls. Jacks was also playing well and perfect supporting act. The duo added 52 crucial runs for the 6th wicket before Brook fell for 100 off 51 balls with 10 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Afridi.
Jamie Overton came out to bat next. Just 5 runs were added to the tally before Jacks fell for 28 off 23 balls with one four and two sixes to his name as he was cleaned up by Nawaz. Liam Dawson came out to bat next. Just one run was added to the score before Overton fell for a bronze duck to Nawaz. Jofra Archer came out to bat and got off the mark as well. He hit the winning runs off Mirza through midwicket region for a boundary as England got over the line and finished with 166/8 in 19.1 overs. 4 extras given by the fielding side as Dawson remained unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball and Archer remained unbeaten on 5 off 2 balls with one four to his name.
Pakistan bowled decently well with Shaheen Afridi being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/30 in 4 overs. Mohammad Nawaz finished with 2/26 in 3 overs. Usman Tariq finished with 2/31 in 4 overs. Salman Miraz finished with 0/26 in 3.1 overs. Saim Ayub bowled 2 overs for 21 runs. Shadab Khan finished with 0/31 in 3 overs. So, England win by 2 wickets with 5 balls to spare. Harry Brook was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead.Â
So, England have become the first side to officially enter the semi-finals of T20 World Cup 2026 with this win. Pakistan still not out of the race but has to win their last game against Sri Lanka on Saturday. England will play New Zealand on Friday. So, a lot to look forward to in Group 1. Coming up next is Sri Lanka vs New Zealand live from -Premadasa Stadium in Colombo in a Group 2 fixture tomorrow evening.
Let’s see how this crucial clash pans out for both teams going forward in this tournament.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: Shaheen Afridi Rattles England With Triple Strikes.