T20 World Cup: Pak vs Eng — Again “Kudrat ka Nizam” for Pakistan’s Semifinal Hopes?

New Delhi: After an unprecedented chaos for the Indian side in their journey to the semi-finals, Pakistan has joined its all time cricket rivals with their first loss in their second Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup 2026. Last night on 24th Feb, England pulled off a comfortable victory in the thrilling match against Pakistan with 2 wickets in hand. England is the first team to qualify for the semi-finals with their two dominant victories in the first two matches of Super 8 stage. Jofra Archer, batting at no.10, pulled away 4 runs on the very first ball of the 20th over (19.1), resulting in an easy win, sparing 5 balls in the last over of left-arm pacer Salman Ali Mirza.

Harry Brook played an anchor inning of 100 (51), also the Man of the Match for his tough knock when England had lost its early wickets just for 58/4 (7.1 ov). He single-handedly ensured that the team comfortably reached the victory line, and he almost succeeded but fell 10 runs short of the target and lost his wicket at 155 in the last ball of the 17th over against Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Pakistan showed some resilience in this match compared to the average performances in their group stage matches, especially with the ball. Shaheen Shah Afridi took the highest wickets of 4 by losing just 30 runs in his 4 overs at an economical rate of 7.50. Along with Shaheen, Usman Tariq took 2 wickets for 31 runs in 4 overs (Economy — 7.75), and Mohammad Nawaz took 2 wickets for 26 runs in 3 overs (8.67).

This 2 wicket loss will pinch Pakistan’s hopes for the semifinals. The first Super 8 match against New Zealand was washed out due to rain, given 1–1 point to each team, and now losing their second match has again turned them to look for “Kudrat ka Nizam”.

Yes, Pak is now desperately praying that New Zealand loses all its remaining matches so that Pakistan qualifies for the Semifinals. It seems very difficult in practice, looking at the current form of the Kiwi side. New Zealand has its next match on 25th Feb (Thursday) against Sri Lanka, both sides looking desperately to win the next game because losing the match can make their journey difficult in the T20 World Cup.

What’s next for Pakistan from here?

The ongoing Pakistan squad for the T20 World Cup hasn’t looked in its best form since the beginning of the tournament. Expect Sahibzada Farhan in the batting; no other player looked to be at their best. Now, losing their critical match against England, all hopes depend on New Zealand’s losses; only then can they move forward, but if the Kiwis manage to win all their remaining matches, Pak’s journey in the tournament might come to an end.

A similar fate is yet to be decided for India too, because they’re dependent on South Africa’s complete dominance in their remaining matches. SA has to win all its matches; only then India can somehow qualify for the semifinals, or it will be way too hard for them to continue their campaign.