Harry Brook’s 50-ball century blazes England past Pakistan into T20 World Cup semi-finals

For all their faults and frailties, their fluffs and fumbles, England are also the first team to secure a place in the World Cup semi-finals, their spot secured by victory over Pakistan and by the sensational Harry Brook century that drove them towards it.

After coming in just one ball into the innings and watching the rest of England’s top five falter, England’s captain transformed a crisis into what, for all that a couple of late wickets got the nerves jangling, became something approaching a cruise.

Brook fell to the last ball of the 17th over, the first after he had completed his century off his 50th delivery. Several Pakistan players ran towards him to shake his hand as he left the field, and soon they were shaking hands again: having come to the crease, promoted for the first time to No 3, before England had even taken a nibble into their target of 165, Brook departed with them needing 10 off 18. Though Will Jacks and Jamie Overton both fell in the penultimate over to give Pakistan the faintest sniff of renewed hope, England got there with five remaining to win by two wickets.

Before returning to claim Brook as his fourth victim with his final ball of the game, Shaheen Shah Afridi – considered by many a fading force at the age of 25, dropped after conceding 31 in two overs against India, and reclaiming a place in the side only because Faheem Ashraf was not fit enough to keep his own – had ripped through the rest of England’s top order in the powerplay.

Again their openers misfired, both Phil Salt and Jos Buttler edging into the gloves of Usman Khan having made a combined contribution of three runs. Salt swung at the first ball of the innings and caught it with his outside edge, Buttler lasted into the third over before feathering it behind. Buttler is in truly dreadful form, averaging 10.33 in six innings at this tournament. “He’s a powerhouse of world cricket, he’s done it on every stage, won World Cups, ODIs and T20s,” Brook said. “People have got to cut him a little bit of slack. He’s arguably our best player, he’s just not hitting them out of the middle at the minute.”

In this format teams often only require one top-order batter to fire and with England’s former captain misfiring it was time for his replacement to step up. Perhaps further motivation had been provided by his dropping a straightforward catch at mid-off a little earlier. Shadab Khan went on to score an additional and rapid 19 and if Pakistan celebrated those runs at the time each one added fuel to Brook’s fire.

His was a magnificent innings, featuring 14 boundaries, perhaps the best of them the ludicrous back-foot straight drive for six off Mohammad Nawaz. Though Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan, the tournament’s leading scorer, had earlier added another fine innings to his collection – and an excellent audition for any watching members of the Hundred hierarchy – Brook’s was on a different level. Having repeatedly spoken of his frustration at England’s tentative batting in this tournament, here he gave the most compelling demonstration of leadership by example.

But for the occasional misfields England might have had a more straightforward chase, but their feeling was always that Pakistan’s total of 164 for nine was underpowered. Their bowling was largely excellent with Jofra Archer again setting the tone with an early wicket, Saim Ayub looping a top-edged pull to deep backward square leg off the first ball of the seamer’s second over. But an opening spell of great ferocity, with few deliveries dipping under the 90mph mark, was under rewarded, Pakistan getting a few boundaries with flukes and edges, though it ended with a couple of classy ones from Babar Azam.

But after Archer was removed from the attack, with the Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha having by then also fallen, to Liam Dawson, the runs for a while dried up. Babar, as he does, gobbled up four overs, with no boundaries but that brace off Archer, before mistiming a heave against Overton and losing the bail off his off-stump having scored 25 off 24.

Through all this Farhan remained, and he looked to be truly kicking into gear when he hit Overton over long-on for six and the next ball through cover for four with ominous power, taking his team to 122 to three. Three overs later it was 149 for eight, Overton provoking a collapse by arrowing a yorker towards leg stump that thumped into Farhan’s pad.

Pakistan’s total would have been lower still but for an uncharacteristic number of errors and misfields from England, with that Brook drop not even the most glaring, though it was a problem Pakistan went on to share. Twice the normally impeccable Jacob Bethell let the ball run to the rope when it should have been easily stopped, and he would later become the beneficiary of the night’s moment of peak clumsiness.

The 22-year-old was on six when he sent a top edge looping into the night sky; Usman Tariq settled underneath it, waited for it to drop, extended his hands and somehow let it squirm off them. Bethell actually laughed as the ball plopped to the turf. England remain a flawed team, but somehow things are falling their way.

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