T20 World Cup 2026: England’s thrilling victory over Pakistan, Harry Brook’s historic century, English team in semi-finals

PAK vs ENG T20 World Cup Super 8: England defeated Pakistan by two wickets in the Group 2 match of Super 8 played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy to win the men’s title. t20 world cup Secured a place in the semi-finals. The hero of this exciting match was captain Harry Brook, who, batting at number 3 for the first time in T20 International, scored a brilliant 100 runs in 51 balls. He became the first captain to score a century in T20 World Cup history. His strong performance brought England out of difficult situations and gave them a memorable victory.

England suffered big setbacks in the beginning

England had a very bad start while chasing the target of 194 runs. Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed Phil Salt for a golden duck on the very first ball. After this, Jos Buttler also returned to the pavilion cheaply, due to which his poor form continued. Jacob Bethel also could not last long and England lost three wickets in the powerplay. Shaheen displayed excellent swing and accurate line-length with the new ball and equaled the record of taking the most wickets in the first over in the tournament.

Harry Brook took over the responsibility

Amidst these shocks, Harry Brook took charge. He scored runs quickly in the powerplay and adopted an aggressive stance against the spin bowlers. He continuously hit big shots on Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan. Brook completed his century in 50 balls and completely dominated Pakistan’s bowling attack. Although he was bowled on a yorker just before the victory, by then England was very close to victory.

Pakistan’s batting

Before this, Pakistan had also not had a good start. Joffra Archer dismissed Sam Ayub early, while captain Salman Ali Aga also walked out cheaply. However, Sahibzada Farhan and Babar Azam handled the innings. Farhan batted aggressively and scored 63 runs in 45 balls and put the team in a strong position. Fakhar Zaman also scored fast runs, but England’s spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson controlled the run rate in the middle overs.

Dawson broke Pakistan’s rhythm

Dawson broke Pakistan’s rhythm by taking wickets at important moments and took 3 wickets. Due to the fall of wickets of Usman Khan and Mohammad Nawaz, Pakistan could not make much progress in the last overs. Pakistan posted a competitive score in the stipulated 20 overs, but it proved inadequate in front of Brook’s innings.

Pakistan’s path to semi-finals becomes difficult

England were under pressure in the middle overs at 58/4 and then 103/5, but Brook held one end. In the end the match went till the last over, where England showed patience and achieved the target. With this victory, England made it to the semi-finals of the Men’s T20 World Cup for the fifth consecutive time. On the other hand, the path to the semi-finals has now become difficult for Pakistan and they will have to depend on other results.

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