On 24th February 2026, England faced Pakistan in Group 2 of the Super 8 round’s 5ᵗʰ match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and the 45th fixture of the overall tournament. It was a high-pressure game played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
England pulled off a nail-biting win by 2 wickets. With this victory, they became the first team to book their spot in the semi-finals of the tournament.
| Pakistan Playing XI | England Playing XI |
|---|---|
| Sahibzada Farhan | Philip Salt |
| Saim Ayub | Jos Buttler (WK) |
| Salman Ali Agha (C) | Jacob Bethell |
| Babar Azam | Tom Banton |
| Fakhar Zaman | Harry Brook (C) |
| Shadab Khan | Sam Curran |
| Usman Khan (WK) | Will Jacks |
| Mohammad Nawaz | Jamie Overton |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | Liam Dawson |
| Salman Mirza | Jofra Archer |
| Usman Tariq | Adil Rashid |
What made the Pakistan vs England match important?
This was a do-or-die match for both teams. England intended to confirm their place in the semi-final after defeating Sri Lanka earlier.
Pakistan was under serious pressure because their game against New Zealand was washed out due to rain, leaving them with just one point.
To stay in the race without depending too much on other teams, Pakistan had to defend its total and win its other matches.
But England sealed victory and confirmed their spot in the top four of the semi-finals.
Now Pakistan’s semi-final hopes are barely alive. They must defeat Sri Lanka in their last match and pray that other results also go their way.
First Innings: Pakistan Chose to Bat
Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first, as they looked to put up a big score on the batting-friendly Pallekele pitch.
However, they finished with a total score of 164 for 9 wickets in their 20 overs, which gave them a fair score to defend.
Pakistan’s top scorer: Sahibzada Farhan became the top scorer with 63 runs off 45 balls, hitting some beautiful boundaries and a huge six over long on.
Innings Summary
The first innings unfolded as follows:
Powerplay Overs (1 to 6)
In Pakistan’s batting, Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub struggled to score early in the game because of Jofra Archer’s tight and challenging bowling.
Pakistan were already two down for around 40 runs in the first six overs.
Saim got dismissed for just 7 runs off 7 balls by Archer, and captain Salman Ali Agha also went back quickly to dug out after scoring 5 runs off 6 balls. Team Pakistan got under pressure right from the beginning.
Middle Overs (7 to 15)
In the middle overs, things calmed down for a while.
Sahibzada Farhan and Babar Azam built a solid partnership and pushed the score past 70 runs. Then, in the 11th over, Jamie Overton dismissed Babar for 25 runs.
Later, Fakhar Zaman came in and supported Farhan well. The two picked up the pace and took the score to 122 after losing 3 wickets by the end of the 15th over.
Farhan brought up his half-century in the 14th over and looked ready to go big in the final overs.
Death Overs (16 to 20)
The last five overs completely changed the game. Jamie Overton broke the momentum with a perfect yorker to dismiss Farhan, who was set on 63.
From there, Pakistan’s innings slipped quickly, losing 6 wickets for just 52 runs.
Liam Dawson added more pressure with his spin; he dismissed Mohammad Nawaz and Usman Khan.
However, Shadab Khan gave a late push with a quick 23 runs off 11 balls, but he got run out on the final ball. Pakistan ended at 164 for 9.
England’s Bowling Efforts
England’s bowlers held to their plan in the final overs and kept Pakistan under control.
Liam Dawson was the standout performer; he took 3 wickets after conceding only 24 runs. Jamie Overton picked up 2 wickets and conceded 26 runs, and Jofra Archer also took 2 wickets for 32 runs.
England bowlers grabbed key wickets at the right time and restricted Pakistan from accelerating in the death overs.
Second Innings: England’s Chase
England started chasing 165 in the worst way possible, as Shaheen Shah Afridi came in firing and shook England’s top-order batsmen, leaving them to lose quick wickets early on.
England’s Top Scorer: Harry Brook was the clear star of the match. He scored 100 runs in just 50 balls and completely changed the game.
The captain’s innings included 10 boundaries and 4 sixes, and when things were falling apart, he stepped up and led the team to victory almost single-handedly.
But their captain stepped up with a brilliant innings and guided them to the score of 166/8 in 19.1 overs.
Innings Summary
The second innings unfolded as follows:
Powerplay Overs (1 to 6)
Shaheen Shah Afridi made a strong comeback and struck on the very first ball, dismissing Phil Salt for zero runs.
He didn’t stop there and quickly dismissed Jos Buttler after conceding 2 runs and Jacob Bethell for 8 runs. This had put England under serious pressure early on.
England were shaken at a score of 35 runs with 3 wickets down and got to 53 for 3 by the end of the powerplay overs.
Their key batsman to bring stability in their innings was Harry Brook, who walked in at number three and started playing attacking shots from the start.
Middle Overs (7 to 15)
Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled intensely, but Captain Harry Brook completely took over the game. He first added 45 runs with Sam Curran, then built another 52-run partnership with Will Jacks.
Even though Usman Tariq dismissed Banton and Curran to keep Pakistan in the fight, Brook kept attacking. He reached his half-century in just 28 balls, hitting both fast bowlers and spinners with ease and making sure the required run rate never got out of hand.
Death Overs (16 to 20)
The match got intense when Brook started attacking and racing towards a big hundred.
He reached his century in just 50 balls, and right after that, Shaheen Afridi dismissed him on the very next ball.
At that point, England needed 10 runs with 3 wickets left. Mohammad Nawaz brought Pakistan back into the game by taking two wickets in the 19th over, removing Jacks and Overton.
Still, with only 3 runs needed in the final over, Jofra Archer hit a boundary on the very first ball from Salman Mirza and finished the match with 5 balls remaining.
What Does This Result Mean for Both Teams?
England has now officially reached the semi-finals round of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
As for Pakistan, this loss hurts badly. They only have 1 point from two matches. Now they must defeat Sri Lanka in their last game of the Super 8 stage and also hope that New Zealand loses their remaining matches. Only then can Pakistan hope to qualify on their net run rate.
Here, you can watch the full highlights of the England vs Pakistan match, Super 8 Group 2, held on 24ᵗʰ February 2026 at Pallekele, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
