England Makes T20 World Cup History with Fifth Consecutive Semi-Final Appearance

England won a close match against Pakistan in Pallekele by two wickets, making it two wins out of two in the Super 8s. They are now the first team in this T20 World Cup to reach the semi-finals! This is the fifth time in a row that England have reached the T20 World Cup semis, a record. Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled well in the powerplay, but Harry Brook led England with a historic century to secure the win.

Earlier in the evening, Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first. They were off to a dismal start with losing Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha early. Sahibzada Farhan (63 off 45) continued his good form and scored yet another half-century, rebuilding the sinking ship with back-to-back 40+ partnerships with Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman.

Babar struggled to get going, while Fakhar was positive during his little stay. Both scored 25. Shadab Khan hit a nice cameo towards the end, while Pakistan collapsed from the other end, finishing with 164/9. Liam Dawson was the star of the show for England with the ball, finishing with 3/24. Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton picked up two wickets each, while Adil Rashid bowled a nice spell, grabbing one wicket. For a change, Will Jacks was expensive, while Sam Curran bowled three good overs without any success.

England Beat Pakistan by 2 Wickets, Reach T20 World Cup Semis

Coming back into the playing XI, Shaheen was at his best with the new ball, dismissing Phil Salt on the very first ball of the run chase. He then removed Jos Buttler for another low score in the 3rd over before accounting for Jacob Bethell's dismissal in the 5th over. Bethell was given a life with Usman Tariq dropping a sitter, but failed to make it count, leaving England reeling at 35/3.

Brook took the responsibility and promoted himself to number 3, counter-attacking in his trademark style. He played an array of strokes, ran between the wickets beautifully and was a lone warrior for the majority of the innings. The 45-run partnership with Sam Curran somewhat brought England back into the game before a 52-run stand with Will Jacks got England pretty close to the victory. Usman Tariq was forced to bowl earlier than he had been bowling so far, and removed Banton first ball and finished with 2/31, dismissing Curran. 

Brook became the first captain to hit a hundred in the T20 World Cups, with the knock coming off 50 balls, but was cleaned up by Shaheen the very next ball in the 17th over. Shaheen leaked 17 off his fourth over, and despite it, he finished with 4/30. But that over completely turned the game in England's favour. 

England needed 5 off 12 balls, and Jacks was set, scoring 28 runs. Still, Mohammad Nawaz bowled a dramatic 19th over, removing Jacks on the first ball of the over before putting Jamie Overton under pressure and getting rid of him on the 5th ball. Nawaz finished with 2/26, but Archer slammed a boundary on the first ball of the 20th delivered by Salman Mirza to take his team home.

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