Brook century powers England to T20 WC semi-final

In Pallekele, Harry Brook put on an extraordinary performance, becoming the first captain in T20 World Cup history to break 100 goals. England became the first team to advance to the T20 World Cup semifinals in 2026 thanks to that one-man show, which has now put Pakistan's chances in jeopardy. Pakistan's returning Shaheen Afridi contributed with a four-wicket haul, while England's chase of 165 with five balls remaining appeared to be in jeopardy. However, Pakistan won the match. Pakistan chose to bat first on Pallekele, a spin-friendly surface, and they scored runs. After Saim Ayub and Salman Agha had poor games, Sahibzada Farhan, who has led the Pakistani batting unit in this tournament, had to step in once more. When Ayub tried to pull Jofra Archer, he got a top edge, and Liam Dawson sent Agha packing in the next over. This indicated that Babar Azam had the chance to step in at No. 4 and make an impact. However, Farhan was the one who scored the most in the Powerplay, scoring on goals off of Archer, Liam Dawson, and Jamie Overton. For his part, Babar got off to a good start by hitting Archer with consecutive boundaries. Babar, on the other hand, struggled to get going against England's spinners after the Powerplay. He was once again troubled by Adil Rashid, who has beaten him before. Pakistan's best batter had trouble reading the English veteran. Babar was castled by Overton while attempting a wild slog to break free, which eventually led to his departure for a 24-ball 25. But Fakhar Zaman left with a purpose and gave Pakistan the push it needed. After that, Farhan and Zaman each hit a six off Will Jacks, and the tournament ended with another fifty for the opener. When Farhan hit a six and a four off consecutive deliveries, Pakistan appeared to be putting the total beyond England's reach, setting themselves up for a big finish at 112/3 by the end of the 15th over. However, Overton launched a potent comeback with a fuller pass to keep the opener in front. Even though Rashid was hit with two sixes in the next over, England kept taking important wickets to squeeze Pakistan. With a score of 3/24, Dawson finished as the best bowler. Shadab Khan added a few crucial runs at the end to push Pakistan past the 160-run mark, which was still a respectable total on this surface if it hadn't been for dew. After the start of England's innings, it appeared that the 165-run target was more than adequate. During the Powerplay, the proceedings were dominated by the returning Afridi. He scored with the first ball to send Phil Salt back for a golden duck, and the opener got a tame under edge through to the keeper, continuing Jos Buttler's miserable run. The next player to leave was Jacob Bethell, who found the fielder deep and fell for just 8. Despite all of this, Brook put on an outstanding performance at the other end, scoring 41 runs in the Powerplay after moving up to No. 3. He got off Salman Mirza with a four and a six, and he took full advantage of the fielding restrictions by moving Mohammad Nawaz around in the Powerplay's final over. Usman Tariq, Pakistan's ace in the hole, struck in his first over to reduce England to 58/4 and keep his team in contention. England, on the other hand, were never out of the game, especially with a rampaging Brook still out in the middle and a deep batting lineup. While playing safe against Tariq, the England skipper put on a show against the Pakistan spin attack, breaking boundaries at will. Jacks made up for his poor ballplay by clearing the boundary very early in his innings, even though Tariq eventually struck again, taking out Sam Curran. Jacks and Brooks made sure there was nothing to worry about, and the first one even pulled Tariq for a six to confirm his authority. In an attempt to break through, Agha brought Afridi back for his final over in a desperate move. For the first time in T20Is, Brook reached three figures when he came down the track to cart him over wide long on for another six. The perfect yorker that the left-arm pacer hit off the next ball did send the England skipper back to the pavilion, but England only needed 10 more runs to undo the damage. England put on a reckless performance right at the end, losing wickets carelessly, even though the game was already over. This caused a slight flutter going into the final over, when they needed 3 runs with 2 wickets left. However, Archer ended the game by pulling the first ball for a boundary.