England beat Pakistan to reach T20 World Cup Semis

2026-02-24 - 17:13

England beat Pakistan by two wickets in the Super Eight clash at Pallekelle in Kandy on Tuesday to become the first team to qualify for the T20 World Cup Semis. Chasing a decent 165-run target for victory, England crossed the finish line with two wickets and five balls remaining. After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Green shirts reached 164/9 in their quota of 20 overs despite losing two wickets inside the Powerplay. Opener Sahibzada Farhan was the top scorer, who made 63 off 45 balls, hitting seven fours and two maximums. Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman contributed 25 each, while Shadab Khan made a valuable 23 off just 11 balls at a later stage to help his side crossed 160 runs mark. He hit four boundaries during his brief stay at the crease. No other batter could enter the double figures. Liam Dawson grabbed three wickets, Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton two each and Adil Rasheed one, while Shadab Khan was run out on the last ball of the innings. Pakistan Playing XI: 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Salman Ali Agha (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Fakhar Zaman, 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Usman Khan (wk), 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Shaheen Afridi, 10 Salman Mirza, 11 Usman Tariq England Playing XI: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Tom Banton, 5 Harry Brook (capt), 6 Sam Curran, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Liam Dawson, 9 Jamie Overton, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Adil Rashid