Captain Brook’s powerful ton against Pakistan takes England to T20 World Cup semifinals

England became the first side to book a semifinal berth in the T20 World Cup with a nervy 2-wicket win over Pakistan in a Super Eights match at Pallekele in Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

Captain Harry Brook took the responsibility of rescuing his side with a solid 100 off 51 balls. England almost messed up the chase as they lost three wickets just 10 runs away from Pakistan's total of 164/9.

Pakistan might have felt the night belonged to them when Shaheen Shah Afridi ended his mediocre run with a masterful use of pace to finish with 4/30.

The left-arm pacer removed Phil Salt in the first ball with a trademark delivery that nibbled away, taking an edge. He built on the great start to dismiss the struggling Jos Buttler (2) and Jacob Bethell (8) to make it 3/13 and leave England reeling at 36/3.

Enter Brook, and it was a captain leading by example as he launched a counter-attack from the first over, smashing 16 off Mohammad Nawaz to take England to 53/3 at the end of the powerplay.

Pakistan had one more trickster at their disposal, the lanky mystery bowler Usman Tariq. Like Afridi, Tariq got a wicket in his first ball as Tom Banton edged behind. Keeper Usman Khan was the best fielder on the night for Pakistan because most of the others spilt boundaries and turned singles into doubles.

At the other end, Brook fired forward, reaching his fifty off 27 balls, while Pakistan failed to handle the middle overs, as Shadab Khan proved expensive. But Tariq returned to remove Sam Curran to give Pakistan some hope.

Will Jacks steadied a 52-run stand with his skipper, taking the game away from Pakistan. But Afridi removed Brook soon after the Englishman reached his century. England were 155/6 in 17 overs and very much in control. Or so they believed because Jacks and Overton were back in the dugout in the 19th, and England dragged themselves across the finish line with five balls to spare.

Earlier, Sahibzada Farhan top-scored with 63 off 45 as Pakistan struggled to find partnerships. A 49-run stand between Farhan and Babar Azam (25) was the best they held.

Brief scores: Pakistan 164/9 in 20 overs (Farhan 63, Liam Dawson 3/24, Jamie Overton 2/26, Jofra Archer 2/32) lost to England 166/8 in 19.1 overs (Harry Brook 100, Will Jacks 28, Afridi 4/30, Mohammad Nawaz 2/26, Usman Tariq 2/31)