England are in a strong position after Harry Brook produced a composed half-century to anchor the innings in the Super Eight clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy, on Tuesday.
Brook steadied the 165-run chase with a calculated knock, rotating strike efficiently before finding boundaries at key moments, leaving Pakistan’s bowlers searching for breakthroughs in the middle overs.
Pakistan bowlers struggle to slow England’s chase despite getting early wickets.
Earlier, Pakistan posted 165-runs for England to chase with Sahibzada Farhan’s half-century.
Opting to bat first, the 2009 champions accumulated 164/9 in their 20 overs, courtesy of Farhan’s anchoring knock.
Pakistan got off to a shaky start to their innings as their left-handed opener Saim Ayub (7) and captain Salman Ali Agha (5) perished inside the first four overs with just 27 runs on the board.
Following the early setback, star batter Babar Azam joined Farhan in the middle, and the duo batted cautiously to launch a recovery by putting together 46 runs off 44 deliveries.
Jamie Overton eventually broke the budding partnership in the 11th over by cleaning up Babar, who walked back after scoring 25 off 24 deliveries with the help of two fours.
Farhan was then involved in another crucial partnership for Pakistan – a 49-run stand for the fourth wicket with Fakhar Zaman – until eventually falling victim to Overton in the 16th over.
The right-handed opener remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with a 45-ball 63, studded with seven fours and two sixes.
Fakhar followed suit in the next over, falling prey to Adil Rashid after scoring a 16-ball 25, comprising two sixes and as many fours.
Liam Dawson added to Pakistan’s woes in the next over as he dismissed wicketkeeper batter Usman Khan (eight) and all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz (zero) in successive deliveries and brought the total down to 146/7 in 17.5 overs.
Shadab Khan then added valuable runs at the backend with a handy 23-run cameo, which came off 11 deliveries and featured four boundaries.
Dawson was the standout bowler for England, taking three wickets for just 24 runs in his four overs, followed by Jofra Archer and Overton with two each, while Adil chipped in with one.
