Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan and knocked them out of the semi-finals, New Zealand made it to the semi-finals –

Tezzbuzz Desk- Pakistan’s hopes of semi-finals in the Super-8 round of T20 World Cup 2026 Pakistan To Sri Lanka Pushed and stopped. In this thrilling match played in Pallekele, Pakistan needed to win against Sri Lanka by a margin of at least 65 runs to take lead in net run-rate over New Zealand.

Batting first under the captaincy of Salman Agha, Pakistan scored 212 runs for 8 wickets in 20 overs. Sahibzada Farhan performed brilliantly and scored his second century in the T20 World Cup, while Fakhar Zaman, who came to open, scored 82 runs. Together they made a tremendous partnership of 176 runs.

However, as soon as Fakhar Zaman was out, Pakistan’s batting line dashed the expectations. In the last 4 overs the team added only 35 runs and lost 7 wickets. The next 8 batsmen could only add single digit scores.

Pakistan’s bowling got off to a strong start, with Naseem Shah dismissing Pathum Nissanka in the second over. The second wicket also fell for 33 runs, but after this Sri Lanka made a strong comeback. Spinner Abrar Ahmed scored impressive figures of 3/23, taking the wickets of Kamindu Mendis and Charith Asalanka.

sri lankan captain Dasun Shanaka And Pawan Ratnayake Together they led the team towards victory. Ratnayake scored 58 runs, while Shanaka scored 76 not out from 31 balls, which included 8 sixes. He dashed Pakistan’s hopes by hitting 3 consecutive sixes and 1 four in the last over.

Ultimately Shaheen Afridi made Pakistan win the match by 5 runs by stopping Shanaka in the last 2 balls, but due to net run rate, Pakistan lost the match. out of the race for semi-finals It’s done. With this result, New Zealand reached the semi-finals as the second team from Group 2.

The match turned out to be the most exciting and controversial match of the Super-8 round in the T20 World Cup 2026, with Sri Lanka crushing Pakistan’s hopes after being eliminated from the tournament despite being the hosts.