England are the first side through to the semi-finals at the T20 World Cup after captain Harry Brook scored his first international century in the format to see off Pakistan.
Brook reached his 100 off only 50 deliveries, plundering 10 fours and four sixes along the way, as England chased down their opponents’ 164-9 with five balls to spare. He is the third Englishman to score centuries across all three formats of the international game — Tests, ODIs and T20 — following on from team-mate Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan.
The 27-year-old was dismissed immediately after reaching three figures, one of four wickets claimed by Shaheen Shah Afridi, to prompt an anxious finale as three wickets fell for six runs.
But a boundary from Jofra Archer confirmed the two-wicket win in Pallekele which, following on from Sunday’s emphatic success over co-hosts Sri Lanka, secures passage out of the Super Eight stage and into the semi-finals.
England had been reduced to 17-2 and 58-4 before the captain, who had been moved up from No 5 to No 3 by the coach Brendon McCullum, was supported by Sam Curran (16) and Will Jacks (28) to wrest back control.
“That was Baz (McCullum), all Baz,” said Brook when asked about his move up the order at the post-match presentation. “He was the mastermind behind it. He came to me this morning and said: ‘Look, we might change it up and put you up at No 3 today.’
“We’d spoken about adapting and changing all sorts throughout this competition. Having the bravery to do that today was awesome. I haven’t batted there much, but it was nice to get out there and face as many balls as possible. We were in a tricky situation at the start, but a couple of partnerships got us over the line.”
The Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha felt his team’s total, built around the prolific Sahibzada Farhan’s 63, had fallen “a bit short”.
“But you have to give the credit to Harry Brook for the way he batted,” he said. “We bowled really well up front, but then Harry came in and took the game away from us. He batted outstandingly well. We threw everything at him but he was too good for us today.”
Harry Brook runs the ball down to third man en route to his first T20 international century (Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images)
“He was brilliant having been given that extra responsibility, going up the order and scoring a hundred straight away,” added Jacks. “It was difficult with Shaheen swinging it early on, and we know the quality of their spinners through the middle. But he made it look very easy. That was brilliant for him; I think he is our best batter and he should face as many balls as possible.
“He’s led from the front. Bravery or taking the opposition on: it’s not just a mindset. It’s calculating the risks and the options, and what he’s done brilliantly there is he’s targeted the sight screen and waited for them to drop short. He hasn’t just had a wild slog-sweep. He’s showed his skill. He’s scored at 200 (runs per 100 balls) but it doesn’t feel as if he’s chased the game.”
While England have qualified ahead of their final Group Two fixture against New Zealand on Friday, Pakistan need to defeat Sri Lanka in their last match and hope other results go their way if they are to reach the last four.
Can England now win the trophy?
They made hard work of it in the end, but England are the first team to qualify for the T20 World Cup semi-finals on the back of a century of rare brilliance from captain Harry Brook.
Yet, other than Brook, this was far from convincing from an England side who came close to defeat against both Nepal and Italy in the group stages and still have concerns over their batting ahead of the bigger tests to come.
Those worries centre mainly on former captain and opener Jos Buttler who fell in single figures for the fourth consecutive match and looks desperately short of both form and confidence approaching the business end of the World Cup.
A disappointed Jos Buttler departs for only two (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
His opening partner, Phil Salt, is also below his best despite a match-winning 62 against Sri Lanka and was dismissed first ball in Pallekele, while No 4 Tom Banton fell to the first ball delivered by Pakistan’s new mystery spinner, Usman Tariq.
That left England dependent on Brook, who is still the subject of an investigation by the Cricket Regulator following his ill-advised night out before the third ODI against New Zealand in Wellington ahead of the Ashes. How he responded.
Pakistan must be sick of the sight of Brook. He averaged 60 with a strike-rate of 150 in his previous 10 T20 internationals against them while also making 317, England’s first Test triple century for 25 years, in the first Test in Multan in 2024. “It’s always him,” Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha told journalists afterwards.
Here the under-pressure England coach Brendon McCullum made the decision to promote his captain up the order in an understandable attempt to utilise his best player in the power-play — and it paid off spectacularly as Brook smashed four sixes and 10 fours.
But what should have been a stroll for England turned into anything in that anxious finale before Jofra Archer hit the first ball of the final over from Salman Mirza to the boundary to calm English nerves. This team may need greater consistency from their top order, and Buttler in particular, if they are to claim this trophy for the third time.
England have fewer worries over their bowling. Archer bowled with extreme pace to take two wickets and Liam Dawson was outstanding in returning figures of 3-24 on a flat Pallekele pitch. It should have been 20 fewer as England’s ground-fielding was unusually poor, with one of their best fielders in Jacob Bethell particularly culpable with two bad mis-fields.
Paul Newman