England defeated Pakistan by two wickets in a crucial Super Eight Group 2 match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, thanks to a brilliant century by captain Harry Brook at Pallekele.
After winning the toss, Pakistan chose to bat first and posted a total of 164 runs for the loss of nine wickets in their allotted 20 overs.
Pakistan Innings
Pakistan’s openers Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan started cautiously, but the first wicket fell at 14 when Ayub was caught off Jofra Archer for 7 runs.
Captain Salman Ali Agha was dismissed for 5 at a total of 27, caught off the bowling of Liam Dawson.
Farhan and Babar Azam then steadied the innings and took the score to 73 before Babar was bowled by Jamie Overton for 25 off 24 balls.
Fakhar Zaman accelerated the scoring alongside Farhan, who completed his half-century. However, Farhan was dismissed lbw by Overton at 122.
Fakhar contributed 24 runs off 16 balls before being caught off Adil Rashid.
Late in the innings, Shadab Khan played a quick cameo of 23 runs to help Pakistan reach 164/9.
For England, Dawson took three wickets, while Archer and Overton picked up two wickets each and Rashid claimed one.
England Innings
Chasing 165, England had a shaky start as Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, and Jacob Bethell were all dismissed cheaply with the score at 35. All three wickets were taken by Shaheen Shah Afridi.
However, England captain Harry Brook turned the match around with a sensational innings of 100 runs off 51 balls, guiding his side to victory.
Will Jacks was the second-highest scorer for England with 28 runs.
England successfully chased the target in the final over, reaching 165 for the loss of eight wickets.
Shaheen Afridi took four wickets for Pakistan, while Mohammad Nawaz and Usman Tariq claimed two wickets each.
Harry Brook was named Player of the Match for his match-winning century.
Teams
Pakistan made one change to their lineup, bringing back Shaheen Afridi in place of Faheem Ashraf.
Pakistan XI: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Salman Mirza, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq.
England XI: Harry Brook (captain), Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.
Super Eight Standings
Pakistan’s previous Super Eight match against New Zealand national cricket team was abandoned due to rain, with both teams sharing one point.
England, meanwhile, defeated the Sri Lanka national cricket team by 51 runs in their earlier Super Eight match.
After one completed match each, Pakistan have one point, while England have two points with a positive net run rate of +2.55.
Post-Match Reaction
Shaheen Afridi praised Harry Brook’s performance, calling it one of the best innings he had seen and giving full credit to the England captain.
Afridi, who took 4 wickets for 30 runs, said his focus is always on improving his own performance. He also noted that Pakistan were aiming for around 180 runs but lacked strong partnerships during the innings.