🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: S8 - M45: England vs Pakistan🏏 - Page 2

What they said:

"Obviously they're a very good team with some dangerous players and Tariq's obviously a very good bowler. I'm sure the boys will do their homework... You know, it's not all about Tariq. I think they've got a very well-rounded team as well. So we're not going to just look at him, we'll look at the whole team and see how we can nullify them" - Liam Dawson.

"No, it's not a big deal to face Jofra Archer. We have already faced him in Pakistan. We have good bowlers, they also bowl at 145. So it's not a big deal. They (England) will definitely have planned it, but I have also planned it. It's not that only he will have plans. So, we will see. It will be a good match" - Sahibzada Farhan.

England seek home-from-home comforts as Pakistan face critical encounter

Pallekele has been happy hunting ground for Group 2 leaders, but Pakistan are team most in need of victory

A World Cup that started out feeling like a closed shop now appears far more open, thanks to South Africa's thumping 76-run victory over the runaway pre-tournament favourites, India. But the signs that anyone could challenge were there all along - remember Australia didn't even make it out of the group stage. However, the cases for England or Pakistan breaking through have been less than convincing.

England began their campaign squeaking home by just four runs against Nepal, then were beaten by West Indies before nervy wins against Scotland and Italy, who had earlier upset Nepal by 10 wickets. Similarly, Pakistan suffered a scare against the Netherlands in their opening match before wins against USA and Namibia bookended a 61-run defeat at the hands of India.

They started the Super Eight with a wash-out against New Zealand, the shared points leaving their hopes of qualifying for the knockouts hanging by a thread if they can't register a win here. Meanwhile, a 51-run margin of victory in England's first Super Eight match against Sri Lanka owed much to a dire batting performance by the latter and papered over the fact that England were defending a sub-par 146 for 9, in which Phil Salt's half-century was the only innings of note.

It goes without saying, though Harry Brook and Jofra Archer both said as much after the match on Sunday, that England are still seeking their perfect game. The same can be said of Pakistan, who are yet to show their best against top-level opponents. But both are struggling.

Jos Buttler and Saim Ayub, openers on both sides, have scraped just 123 runs between them, although Pakistan's other opener, Sahibzada Farhan has been excellent as the tournament's leading run-scorer to date with 220 at 73.33 and a strike rate of 164.17. Babar Azam's lagging strike rate, currently 115.78 for this World Cup, has come under scrutiny and Pakistan dropped seamer Shaheen Shah Afridiafter he conceded 31 runs off two overs for just one wicket against India and returned just three wickets in as many games all up.

England, meanwhile, have come to rely on three-time Player of the Match Will Jacks to step in with bat and ball when others have failed. With four games for four wins at this particular ground in less than a month, England are as close to having home advantage as they could be, having swept their three-match bilateral series with Sri Lanka in the lead-up to this event. Pakistan move away from Colombo for the first time in this campaign so the onus is on them to settle quickly. Their survival in the tournament could depend on it.

Form guide

England: W W W L W (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)

Pakistan: W L W W W

Pitch and conditions: Time to freshen up

This match will be played on a fresh pitch, which is expected to be better for batting than the one used by England and Sri Lanka on Sunday and it's looking like the kind of deck England will enjoy more. That said, Brook didn't feel the previous surface harboured any demons, saying, "it was just slow". With no sign of the heavy rains which hit Kandy on the eve of that match returning, the forecast predicts sunshine with light winds and a high of 31 degrees Celsius.

Thank you for the tag Raji

Surprised? At this point, that feels like the default emotion at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, 2026. This tournament has turned unpredictability into a pattern, and the Super 8 stage has only dialled up the intensity with one twist after another. Expect it to deepen further as England lock horns with Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. A win for either side here could tighten their grip on a semifinal spot, but nothing has come easy in this competition, and this will be another proper test.

The journey so far - England are winning, but not quite convincing. They are yet to deliver a performance that feels complete, and that lingering gap has kept the spotlight on their consistency. The league stage was a bit of a balancing act, always on the edge, and the Super 8 opener followed a familiar pattern. Sri Lanka tested them at every step, forcing England to dig deep before they scraped through. Job done, yes. Statement made, not really.

Pakistan, meanwhile, have had their rhythm interrupted. Their Super 8 clash against New Zealand in Colombo was washed out, with the rain playing spoilsport and denying them any game time. As a result, they have not taken the field since 18 February, which means they walk into this fixture after nearly a week without competitive action. Whether that break feels like a reset or rust could well shape how they begin in Pallekele.

Bazball, but not blazing - Even without hitting top gear, England have a few positives to lean on. Phil Salt batted beyond the Powerplay for the first time and produced his best outing of the tournament, a brisk 62 against Sri Lanka that held the innings together. Whereas Jacob Bethell, with 146 runs is their leading run getter, while Will Jacks has proven to be quite a pivotal all round option down the order. He has played some really useful knocks for his team and has picked up important wickets as well - a 3/22 which broke the back of the Lankan batting unit. However, a deep dissection will prove that not everything has been gold for them. The major concern is Jos Buttler’s lean run with the bat. Averaging just 12 in this World Cup, he is in urgent need of runs, having registered three successive single-digit scores, a dip that has left England searching for stability at the top.

Harry Brook, the skipper himself, is yet to truly get going. Apart from a lone fifty, his last four innings have yielded just 49 runs in total, with a string of starts in the teens that haven’t quite translated into anything substantial.

Stuck in the second gear - While Sahibzada Farhan has been the standout batter for Pakistan, leading the run charts with 220 runs from four innings, the support around him has been very shoddy. Saim Ayub is yet to find his rhythm, and so is skipper Salman Agha, who has the range to both anchor and accelerate but hasn’t quite made his presence felt yet.

And the age old problem of the middle order failing to keep up with the pace of the modern-day T20 demands has always been the thorn in their flesh. However, beyond that solitary surge at the top, there has been little in terms of substantial contributions. No other batter has gone past fifty in the tournament, and the spotlight inevitably turns to Babar Azam. A strike rate of 115.78 in this format feels below par, and Pakistan will need far greater fluency from him if they are to keep pace in a high stakes contest like this.

What to expect?

Spin is set to call the shots in Pallekele, as is often the case across Sri Lankan venues. England got a first-hand taste of it in their clash against Sri Lanka, where five of their nine wickets fell to spin. That sets things up nicely for Pakistan. Expect them to lean heavily on their variety in spin, with Usman Tariq emerging as a key threat. Eight wickets at an average of 8.37 tells its own story, and he shapes up as a serious matchup against England’s batting unit. That said, England walk in with the comfort of familiarity. They swept a three-match T20I series at this venue earlier in the month and backed it up with a win over Sri Lanka in the Super Eight.

Their own spin unit delivered in that game, accounting for seven of the ten wickets, led by the control and craft of Adil Rashid. With Jofra Archer also chipping in with wickets, England’s bowling attack looks balanced and well-suited to the conditions. A win here puts England in a very likely position to finish high on the table. For Pakistan, their case becomes stronger to get to the next stage if they manage to win here, given their previous match was a total washout. With both teams yet to play at their prime, expect a blockbuster clash at Pallekele.

Thank you, Raji, for the thread and for tagging.

Many Indians will follow this match for a different reason!

Thanks for the tags Savera ji!

Best of luck to both the teams!