| England vs Pakistan | |
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MATCH INFO |
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MATCH :
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England vs Pakistan
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COMPETITION :
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T20 World Cup
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| DATE: |
24-02-2026
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TIME:
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07.00 PM IST
05.30 PM UAE
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STADIUM
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Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
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Pakistan Opt to Bat as Shaheen Afridi Returns for Super Eight Clash Against England
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha won the toss and elected to bat first against England in their crucial Men’s T20 World Cup Super Eight encounter at Pallekele on Tuesday, recalling pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi in place of Faheem Ashraf.
Afridi Back in the XI
Afridi returns to the playing XI despite a difficult tournament so far. The left-arm quick has conceded 101 runs in nine overs across the competition and was left out following Pakistan’s heavy defeat to India in Colombo, as well as their rain-affected no-result against New Zealand at the start of the Super Eight stage.
However, Pakistan management appear to have brought him back specifically to challenge England’s top order, which has historically shown vulnerability against left-arm seam bowling.
Faheem Ashraf, who played a decisive role earlier in the tournament with an unbeaten 29 off 11 balls to guide Pakistan past the Netherlands, makes way. Ashraf has bowled only two overs in the tournament and has primarily been used as a lower-order batter.
At the toss, Agha expressed confidence in conditions.
“It looks like a good pitch. We want to put up an above-par score and defend that total,” he said.
England Eye Early Semi-Final Qualification
England captain Harry Brook admitted he would also have chosen to bat first but expects improved batting conditions compared to England’s low-scoring win over Sri Lanka at the same venue two days earlier.
England can secure a semi-final berth with victory in either of their remaining Super Eight matches, but Brook hopes to seal qualification immediately rather than face a must-win clash against New Zealand later in the week.
“That would be lovely, wouldn’t it? But you never know in T20 cricket — it’s such a fickle game,” Brook said.
Despite discussions about promoting Brook higher up the order, England have retained the same XI and batting order for the fifth consecutive match of the tournament, backing continuity as they search for a complete performance.
“We haven’t had our perfect game yet. Hopefully, it’s just around the corner,” Brook added.
Playing XIs
England:
Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (capt), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.
Pakistan:
Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (capt), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Salman Mirza, Usman Tariq.