New Delhi: Skipper Harry Brook proved to be the star of the show as England thrashed Pakistan by 2 wickets in the T20 World Cup 2026 Super Eight clash to become the first team to book semifinal berth. For Pakistan, the hopes of moving ahead have been crushed after Brook single-handedly launched a scathing attack with powerful century in Pallekele on Tuesday.
Chasing a competitive total of 165, things became a bit nervy for the English side towards the end with couple of quick strikes but they still managed to win the encounter by 5 balls to spare. Pakistan bowlers made a good start in the second innings by claiming the wickets of Philip Salt (0) and Jos Buttler (2) early in the innings but failed to stop the fiery Brook from smashing a century.
Brook single-handedly took the responsibility in the chase smashing a 51-ball 100-run knock studded with 4 sixes and 10 boundaries to push the Pakistan bowlers against the wall. Will Jacks and Sam Curran also contributed a bit with scores of 28 and 16 after all the other batters in the setup failed to deliver. For Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi picked up four wickets while Mohammad Nawaz and Usman Tariq claimed one wicket apiece.
En route his brilliant innings, Brook also scripted a record as he smashed the highest individual score by a captain in the history of T20 World Cups.
England become the first team to punch their ticket for the #T20WorldCup 2026 semi-finals 🎫 pic.twitter.com/XhUNKLui2S
— ICC (@ICC) February 24, 2026
Highest individual scores by a captain in T20 WCs
100 – Harry Brook vs PAK, Pallekele, 2026*
98 – Chris Gayle vs IND, Bridgetown, 2010
94* – Lorcan Tucker vs OMAN, Colombo SSC, 2026
92 – Rohit Sharma vs AUS, Bridgetown, 2024
The flamboyant batter also smashed the joint-second-fastest century in the history of T20 World Cups in terms of number of balls taken.
Fastest hundreds in T20 WCS (by balls)
47 – Chris Gayle vs ENG, Wankhede, 2016
50 – Chris Gayle vs SA, Joburg, 2007
50 – Harry Brook vs PAK, Pallekele, 2026*
51 – B McCullum vs BAN, Pallekele, 2012
Sahibzada stars for Pakistan
Earlier in the first innings, Sahibzada Farhan starred for the Pakistan side with with 63 off 45 while senior pros Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman put up in identical scores of 25 each to help the side cross the 160-run mark. Liam Dawson was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets while Jamie Overton and Jofra Archer also claimed two wickets apiece.
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