- Scorecard is available here
Kandy, 24 February 2026: Harry Brook’s 51-ball 100 trumped Shaheen Shah Afridi’s four-fer to hand England a two-wicket win while chasing 165 against Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy on Tuesday night.
Pakistan will now take on Sri Lanka in their last game of Super Eight stage on 28 February at the same venue.
Shaheen, returning to the side, provided Pakistan head start in defence of the target, removing Phil Salt for a golden duck, Jos Buttler for two off three balls and Jacob Bethell for eight off 10 balls. His three early strikes left England reeling at 35-3 inside 4.5 overs.
Usman Tariq, coming in to bowl the eighth over of the innings, removed Tom Banton off his first ball, with Usman Khan completing a regulation catch behind the stumps to reduce England to 58-4.
After skipper Harry Brook knitted a 45-run partnership with Sam Curran (16, 15b, 1x4), Usman removed the latter in the 12th over with 103 on the board.
Brook’s career-best 100 off 51 balls, featuring 10 fours and four sixes, and a 52-run partnership with Will Jacks (28, 23b, 1x4, 2x6s) put England in a strong position.
However, after Brook fell to Shaheen on the final delivery of the 17th over, Mohammad Nawaz (3-0-26-2) picked up two wickets in the 19th over with England requiring three runs off the final over with two wickets remaining.
Jofra Archer fetched a boundary off the first delivery of the last over to seal a two-wicket win for his side.
Shaheen returned figures of 4-0-30-4, while Usman finished with two for 31 in his four overs.
Winning the toss and batting first, Pakistan lost two wickets in the powerplay, but managed to score 46.
Sahibzada Farhan then shared a 46-run stand with for third wicket with Babar Azam (25, 24b, 2x4s) before the latter was dismissed in the 11th over as the scoreboard read 73-3.
No.5 batter Fakhar Zaman knitted a 49-run alliance with tournament’s current leading run-scorer Farhan (63, 45b, 7x4s, 2x6s) for the fourth wicket to take the score to 122. Farhan fell against Jamie Overtan (3-0-26-2) in the 16th over.
Five deliveries later, Fakhar departed after scoring a quick-fire 25 off 16, featuring two fours and as many sixes.
Despite losing the last six wickets for 42 runs, Shadab Khan’s late surge of 11-ball 23, laced with four fours lifted Pakistan to 164-9 in the allocated 20 overs.
For England, Liam Dawson bagged three for 24 in four overs, while Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton picked up two wickets each.
Scores in brief:
England beat Pakistan by two wickets at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Pakistan 164-9, 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 63, Fakhar Zaman 25, Babar Azam 25, Shadab Khan 23, Liam Dawson 3-24, Jamie Overton 2-26, Jofra Archer 2-32)
England 166-8, 19.1 overs (Harry Brook 100, Will Jacks 28; Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-30, Mohammad Nawaz 2-26, Usman Tariq 2-31)
Player of the match – Harry Brook (England)
